Asil Nadir is guilty, but what is the effect on Hampshire?

Those with a long memory will remember that what made the Asil Nadir case most interesting to some was his record of donations to the Conservative Party. He was, to put it mildly, generous, giving £440,000 during the late 1980's, just before the Polly Peck campaign collapsed amidst allegations of theft and fraud.

I note that there have been calls for the Conservatives to return the funds, based on a curiously naïve declaration by Lord (then Sir Norman) Fowler that, were the funds proven to be stolen, they would be returned. Now, far be it from me to criticise, especially given the Liberal Democrats' own issues with Michael Brown, but I might reasonably assume that, given the response from Conservative Central Office, we might hear rather less self-righteous carping on the subject from the likes of the Times.

But my attention is drawn to a fragmentary memory of a news report from early July, that the former East Hampshire MP had been selected to be the Conservative candidate for Police and Crime Commissioner in November's election. That would be Michael Mates, whose rather unfortunate contribution to the Nadir saga was being forced to resign from John Major's government after it was discovered that he had given Nadir a watch inscribed "Don't let the buggers get you down" just before the latter fled prior to his trial in 1993.

I don't doubt that the good voters of Hampshire will be called upon to ask themselves whether or not selecting someone with such poor judgement should be given responsibility for policing matters, especially as, at the time, it was clear that there were irregularities in the financial arrangements at Polly Peck, even if criminality had not been proved. Indeed, I suspect that the Labour campaign manager is scouring the archives right now.

Or will Mates jump before he is pushed?...