No story, no money

The media has now got their teeth into the Osborne story, though it will not probably run for more than two days. Looking at the article, Osborne met the Russian oligarch, Deripaska, on his yacht five times. Osborne denies soliciting for a donation and one was never made. The furore commenced when Nathan Rothschild wrote a letter to the Times with his allegations. It also transpires that Lord Mandelson was present at three of the meetings


Deripaska is banned from entering the United States and is alleged to have relations with the Russian mafia. Hobnobbing with such a character shows poor judgement, as Lord Mandelson was accused of a conflict of interest, of which he was later cleared. Although Rothschild states that he has a second witness, questions must arise over allegations that could never be proved.

There is no clear outline of the allegation and this has been refuted. At the end of the day, this can be considered as an unforced error but the lack of any donation renders the whole story moot. No story, no money.

The evidence all seems to strongly suggest that George Osborne did nothing illegal in Corfu.