Michael Levy, Baron Levy
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Michael Abraham Levy, Baron Levy, of Mill Hill in the London Borough of Barnet, (born 11 July 1944) is a Labour member of the British House of Lords and the major fundraiser for the UK Labour Party party and several Jewish and Israeli charities. A long-standing friend of the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, Lord Levy has acted as his special envoy to the Middle East since 2002. Levy was arrested and questioned in connection with the "cash for peerages" inquiry by the Metropolitan Police on 12 July 2006. He was bailed.
Early life and music career
Born in Stoke Newington, East London, to devout Jewish immigrant parents of modest means, Levy was educated at Grocers, later known as Hackney Downs Grammar School, where he became head boy. Initially working as an accountant, he made his fortune during the 1960s and 1970s as an impresario, managing singers such as Alvin Stardust and Chris Rea. He founded Magnet Records, the home of the popular 1970s/80s ska band Bad Manners. Levy sold Magnet Records to Warner Brothers in 1988 for £10m. Guitarist Chris Rea, said of Levy, "He is extremely tough, one of the hardest bastards I have ever met, but I would leave my children with him rather than anyone else." The music producer Pete Waterman described him as "the greatest salesman I have ever met. He would be able to sell sand to the Arabs." (ref).
After Magnet was sold and merged into Eastwest Records in the UK, Levy set up M&G Records with backing from Polygram. M&G Records was so named as it was the initials of Michael and his wife Gilda, and featured acts such as "Sunshine On A Rainy Day" singer Zoe and "Fair blows the wind for France" band Pele. It was folded into the main Polydor Records label in 1997.
Aptitude for fundraising
After selling both his record labels, Levy became involved in fundraising for Jewish and Israeli causes. For this he showed a special adeptness, raising £60m for Jewish Care between 1988-1994, an amalgam of Jewish charitable organizations, of which he is now President. Simon Morris, director of Jewish Care, said of Levy that, when it comes to fundraising, "there's no one better in the country."
Political life
Levy first met Tony Blair at a dinner party in 1994, hosted by Israeli diplomat Gideon Meir [1], the two having a common friend in Eldred Tabachnik, a senior barrister at 11 King's Bench Walk Chambers where Blair trained (now a QC and a former president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews) [2]. They soon became close friends and tennis partners. Levy ran the Labour Leader's Office Fund to finance Blair's campaign before the 1997 General Election and received substantial contributions from such figures as Alex Bernstein and Robert Gavron, both of whom were ennobled by Blair after he came to power. Levy, himself, was made a life peer in 1997. Since making his maiden speech on 3 December, 1997, Levy has not spoken in a debate at the House of Lords.
He is a supporter of Labour Friends of Israel and has been described by The Jerusalem Post as "undoubtedly the notional leader of British Jewry". [3]. He is also a member of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the leadership of UK Jewish community. Levy has close ties with the Israeli Labour Party and maintains a home in Tel Aviv [4]. His son, Daniel Levy, is active in Israeli political life, and has served as an assistant to the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and to Knesset member Yossi Beilin. Levy has praised Blair for his "solid and committed support of the State of Israel" [5] and has been described as "a leading international Zionist"[6].
Known as "Lord Cashpoint" to some in the media and politics, he is the leading fundraiser for the Labour Party. In 1997, Levy secured a £1m donation to Labour from Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone. Shorty after, the government changed its policy to allow Formula One to continue being sponsored by tobacco manufacturers. The subsequent furore prompted the Labour Party to return the donation.
In 2000, Levy was criticised when it was revealed that he had paid only £5,000 tax during the financial year 1998–99—equivalent to that paid on a salary of £21,000. In an interview at the time, repeated on BBC2's Newsnight on 16 March 2006, Levy stated that "Over the years I have paid many millions of tax. And, if you average it, each year it comes to many hundreds of thousands of pounds. In that particular year, I was giving my time to the Labour Party and the voluntary sector, and I just lived off capital."[7]
Since 2002, he has acted as the Prime Minister's personal envoy to the Middle East. Sir Christopher Meyer, former British Ambassador to Washington, has said that that the Saudi and Jordanian royal families told him Levy was "not terribly welcome in their countries; and that he was received only out of friendship for Tony Blair." He was also criticised in Sir Christopher's memoirs for his pretensions and over-playing his expectations (e.g. of meetings with high-level US Administration officials)[8].
Levy's home in Totteridge, North London was burgled in 2003. He and his wife, Gilda were restrained with handcuffs and had bleach poured over them. Levy was hit on the head with a shovel and had his wrist broken; the attackers fled with £80,000 of cash and jewellery [9].
In September 2005, Levy was appointed President of the Council of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, the body overseeing the government's Specialist schools and Academy programmes.
On 12 July, 2006, Lord Levy was arrested and later released on bail, in connection with Scotland Yard's investigation into the "Cash for Peerages" controversy. In March 2006, it was revealed that the Labour Party had raised £14 million in loans from private individuals, some of whom were later nominated for peerages. Unlike political donations, that are governed by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 or PPERA, loans made on a commercial basis do not have to be declared.
He has indicated that he will stop his fundraising activities for the Labour Party when Blair leaves office and has now advocated state funding of political parties.
References
- ^ [1] The Observer, March 19, 2006, Euan Ferguson
- ^ [2] The Sunday Times, March 19, 2006, Stuart Wavell
- ^ "Michael Levy: Lord Cashpoint", The Independent, 18 March 2006
- ^ [3], The Guardian, October 1, 2001, Kevin Maguire and Ewen MacAskill
- ^ Jewish Care, Fundraising Dinner 2006
- ^ [4] The Sunday Times, March 19, 2006, Stuart Wavell
- ^ Profile: Lord Levy, BBC, 12 July, 2006
- ^ Meyer reveals 'Blair's pygmies', The Guardian, 8 November, 2005
- ^ [5] The Sunday Times, March 19, 2006, Stuart Wavell
External links
- Lord Levy arrest, Channel 4 News, July 12, 2006 (video)
- BBC News Labour fundraiser Levy arrested, July 12, 2006
- "Taking It On Trust" - discussion of Lord Levy's role in the Labour Leader's Office Fund and other fundraising for Labour
- "Lord Levy: a man with a talent for squeezing cheques out of wallets", The Guardian, 17 March 2006
- Lord Levy: Labour's Fund-raiser, BBC, 17 March 2006
- "There was once a jolly bagman", The Observer, 19 March 2006
