A disciplinary code accepted by the Parliamentary Labour Party before the election

A disciplinary code accepted by the Parliamentary Labour Party before the election includes an offence of bringing the party into disrepute, for which an offender could be expelled from the party.. “I presume that you will take such prompt and decisive action now in relation to the allegations … His selection for the Govan candidacy followed a bitter battle with Mike Watson, the former Labour MP. Mr Watson had won the selection ballot by a single vote but was defeated by Mr Sarwar after Labour party bosses ordered a re-run following claims that some votes had been unfairly discounted.Mr Sarwar was accused by sections of the Muslim community of bringing “shame on Islam” last year after a high-profile trip to Pakistan to “rescue” two Glasgow girls from forced marriages.In the election Mr Sarwar held the seat for Labour with a 2,914 majority over Scottish National Party candidate Nicola Sturgeon, while Mr Islam polled 319 votes.The Scottish National Party leader, Alex Salmond, wrote to the Prime Minister yesterday calling for “prompt and decisive action” over the allegations – a phrase used by Mr Blair about Neil Hamilton.

The paper said he then gave Mr Islam pounds 5,000 in cash – handed over during a meeting in a Mercedes – to discredit Mr Paton.Almost from the moment he signalled his intention to become an MP, Mr Sarwar, the millionaire owner of a cash-and-carry business, has been at the centre of controversy. He had promised “compensation,” but no sum was mentioned.After the election, the MP was at the centre of allegations of ballot- rigging made by a Scottish Unofficial Labour candidate, Peter Paton – a matter already under police investigation. Before the election he tried to persuade him to wind down his campaign, it said. During the general election, the party was critical of John Major for not forcing Neil Hamilton to stand down, suggesting that Tony Blair would have shown stronger leadership.The Home Secretary, Jack Straw, said that if the allegations were proven there would be serious consequences.”We made it clear before the election that we take such matters very seriously indeed and serious actions will flow if these allegations are found to be substantiated,” he said on BBC television.The News of the World claimed that Mr Sarwar twice asked Mr Islam to help him. Therefore, in addition to co-operating with any police investigation, I will be consulting with my lawyers about taking out a writ for defamation,” he said.Mr Brown said that he would take no immediate disciplinary action, but would ask the party’s National Executive Committee to decide whether it should report separately on the matter.Labour sources were anxious to be seen to be taking a tough stance yesterday. The Secretary of State for Scotland, Donald Dewar, called in the police yesterday afternoon to investigate the allegation against Mohammed Sarwar, MP for Glasgow Govan.
Mr Sarwar, who strongly denies the claim was forced to fly to London yesterday to explain himself to the party’s Chief Whip, Nick Brown.After the meeting, Mr Sarwar, Britain’s first Muslim MP, issued a statement following reports in the News of the World and other newspapers that he had paid pounds 5000 to Independent Labour candidate Badar Islam.”The allegations made about me in today’s newspapers are totally false.

One of Labour’s new MPs was facing a police investigation last night after reports that he bribed a rival candidate in the general election. But unlike annuities they do allow pensioners to retain ownership of their capital and take advantage of rising stock and share prices and dividends and also to pass on their capital if they die.Many have done well out of rising share prices and dividends, but as the graph shows the annuity they could now buy could well be 10 per cent less than they could have got 18 months ago. Their consolation will be that when they do buy an annuity, as they must before they reach 75 for a man or 70 for a woman, the annuity will be bigger because they are older and the payment dies with them.. Some pensioners have also taken advantage of a change in the rules in June 1996 that permits them to defer buying an annuity and instead to reinvest their pension lump sums in so-called income draw-down schemes.Income draw-downs unfortunately pay less income than an equivalent annuity would buy.

But it is equally possible that annuity rates will continue to fall over the long run as the threat of inflation fades.Anyone deciding to retire on a personal pension is allowed to shop around for their annuities and need not buy them from the insurance company that provided the pension plan, although some companies, notably Equitable Life, will charge a penalty for transferring. But the principles are the same.Most annuity providers hold a quote for 14 days and the fall in rates has persuaded many people who received firm quotes before the election to go ahead with buying their annuities. Anyone who missed out on the old rates might be better advised now to wait a while and see if the rates rebound a little, says the Annuities Bureau, an independent specialist adviser. A flat rate annuity fixed for life pays more initially than one linked to future inflation, one which pays a benefit to a surviving spouse, and one which guarantees to pay the first five years even if the purchaser dies. Canada Life for example has lowered its rates three times in the last 10 days and a man of 65 buying an annuity from them with a lump sum of pounds 100,000 will now get pounds 10,657.92 a year compared with pounds 11,057.04 at the beginning of May.At any one time rates vary from company to company as well as with the age, sex and therefore the life expectancy of the purchaser. But this time round fixed interest stocks have risen and yields have fallen because the markets believe, rightly or wrongly, that the Bank of England will do a better job of holding down inflation and therefore long-term interest rates than the Chancellor would have done.Annuities already being paid are not affected, but in some cases quoted payouts on new annuities have fallen by as much as five per cent in the past two weeks.