Monday, March 26, 2007

Is the British Taxpayer Paying for Mugabe's Daughter

Conservative MP James Duddridge has discovered that Robert Mugabe's daughter Bona is studying at the LSE. He asked Ian McCartney about it in the House of Commons earlier having alerted him to the issue this morning. Bearing in mind McCartney had several hours to look into the issue, his responses were less than illuminating. When asked if the British taxpayer was paying any of the cost of her education he said "I don't know". James Duddridge has now written to McCartney asking five key questions...

1) Who authorised Bona Mugabe’s visa?
2) Who pays Bona’s tuition fees?
3) What liaison has there been with the UK authorities in relation to Bona’s personal safety and protection?
4) Has any taxpayers’ money been spent?
5) What consideration has the Government given to extending the travel ban to include all members of Robert Mugabe’s family?

We look forward to some quick answers.

24 comments:

Dave Cole said...

The LSE's media office is usually pretty good at these questions. They've also had Chelsea Clinton and the son of Muanmar Gadafy.

Anonymous said...

Why does it matter? Is there any evidence to show that she supports her father's policies? Children should not be blamed for what their parents do.

Rush-is-Right said...

This sounds like another Home Office cock-up. We were all led to believe that the travel ban for Mugabe's cronies extended to their families.

Anonymous said...

The LSE media office would know what consideration the government had given to extending a travel ban to all the members of the dictator's family?

And they would know whether any British taxpayers' money had been spent?

Why would they have this information?

This gal needs to be sent back to the hellhole she came from.

Anonymous said...

What sort of age is this lady? If she is an independent adult, that's one thing, but if she is a teenager, why is her Daddy sending her to study in a country he thinks is viciously opposed to him and he believes is stirring up violent opposition to him?

Anonymous said...

Hmm..Whilst I'm not normally a fan of visiting the 'sins of the father' on their offspring, one does have to ask if this really is sending the right message about how strongly Britain is objecting to the Mugabe regime.

Mind you, given how strapped British universities are for cash, maybe we shouldn't protest too much as there may be a significant number of Iranian youth over here, learning all about biotechnology, atomic physics and microbiology, if you get my drift...

Anonymous said...

Iain, you might want to get a steer from Boris Johnson on this - I tend to think he would be against this, despite the general rule being that as long as someone has paid their fees and isn't causing any trouble in this country, then we shouldn't go out of our way to bother them.

Anonymous said...

Is this the front line of the battle against Mugabe? Fretting over where his daughter studies? What a fucking joke.

Anonymous said...

Mrs. Mugabe flies to Paris frequently for shopping trips. It's her favourite shopping destination.

I agree about not visiting the sins of the fathers, etc, but let's face it. With two parents like this, I doubt whether the acorn has fallen too far from the trees.

She should be on a plane back to Zimbabwe even as we type. If nothing else, it sends a message to her father that we don't approve of him or his offspring and it sends a message to the electorate of Zimbabwe that we are on their side, not the side of a thieving dictator's kid.

Anonymous said...

Iain sorry to disappoint. This is all tosh. McCartney has now admitted that he was misinformed about the Mugabe girl being at LSE.

Anonymous said...

Good!

Laurence Boyce said...

No, I’m not looking forward to “quick answers” to any of those questions. Where’s the logic here? Punish the daughter for the sins of the father? I know – let’s kidnap her and use her for ransom!

Anonymous said...

tosh is it? Has anyone got an LSE login?

According to wikipedia

"Bona Mugabe entered an elite social sciences university (London School of Economics) in the United Kingdom in September 2006 [18]"

18. ^ Formerly LSE Student Email Directory now only accessible through LSE for You

Anyone got an LSE For You login?

Anonymous said...

Aha ! It is on 'Wikipedia' - ergo, it must be true...

Anonymous said...

I smell a rat and its name is not necessarily Mugabe. Someone in the government is trying to hide something. Yes, Tony, I am looking at you.

Anonymous said...

What would have happened if Pinochets children were studying here?
I dont think the trots would be quite so quiet.

ian said...

Answer 1: The same person who allowed that shit Pinochet to get away, perhaps?

Anonymous said...

I thought several of Mugabe's henchmen had children at English public school.

Visas are obviously forthcoming. I wonder if they tell UCAS what their parents do for a living ?

The Remittance Man said...

Anon 9:46

Can you give us a link please?

By the way, I'll be posting a possible explaination of how Zim officials are evading the travel ban on The Remittance Man Blog this evening for those who are interested.

Vienna Woods said...

As a side to this story, I wonder if anyone in the UK is aware of the scandal that has been raging in the EU for a couple of years now about the rights of ANY EU student to enroll at a University of their choice in any EU country. In Austria currently we have the situation that students from Germany have been enrolling at our universities on an EU first come, first served basis. In some universities Austria is paying for more than 50% of students from Germany. I reckon it's only a matter of time before the UK will wake up to universities full of Irish, Polish, and Romanian students. The stupid part of all this that the students must not have residency in the target country. Totally idiotic laws, ill thought out and applied by morons.

Unsworth said...

Is this young lady being held as a hostage by LSE or something? Could we not do a deal with the Iranians to get our people back? How much is one Mugabe offspring worth in real terms?

It's time for an overhaul of the diplomatic approach. We've always allowed relatives and 'friends' of the most appalling despots to come to Britain for 'education' and medical treatment, even to do a little shopping. Whether that does any good in the long-term is entirely debatable.

Anonymous said...

Learn a lesson from the Iranians and take her hostage.

Anonymous said...

Does this government need to constantly be told what is and is not appropriate?!

Anonymous said...

She's obviously becoming a Bona contention ;-)