AUTHOR: Jerry "Jet" Whittaker
TITLE: Has Warne's poker charity found its way into Tory pockets?
DATE: 6:40 AM
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BODY:
<p class="mobile-post">A high-profile poker event co-organised by Australian cricketer Shane Warne
has sparked a political row in the UK, with allegations being made that some
of the funds collected on the occasion went to the Conservative Party.
Celebrities, including singer Sting and actor Hugh Grant, who were present
on the occasion, paid a whopping 25,000-dollars-a-head. The total funds,
supposedly collected for the Shane Warne Foundation, amounted to nearly
half-a-million dollars. The event was organised by ecologist Zac Goldsmith
to raise money for the Shane Warne Foundation and another group called
'Ecology Grants', an environmental group set up by Conservative leader David
Cameron to develop 'policies' for the political party. "In total, we reckon
we raised more than 500,000 dollars for the charities, which makes it a
wonderful evening," The Herald Sun quoted Warne as saying. A spokesman for
Warne said the cricketer had no idea the event was raising money for a
political party. "Shane is not linked to any political party and believed
this was an event to raise money for the Shane Warne Foundation," he said. A
spokesman for Goldsmith also denied claims by the Labour Party, that Warne
and other celebrities had been duped into funding the Tories, saying: "the
causes being supported by the event... were clearly on the invitations."</p>
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