The downfall of Labour's Mr Business

Old Labour never took to Robinson

		By Nick Assinder BBC News Online political correspondent

Geoffrey Robinson has hovered over the Labour Party like a black cloud for years.

Many Old Labour MPs were always uncomfortable with the notion of a successful capitalist sitting on the frontbench.

And they were particularly horrified that he was given the crucial job of paymaster general.

It was a hugely symbolic appointment which, they believed, was Tony Blair's way of sticking two fingers up at them and their hopelessly outdated socialist ideals.

And, almost from the day he was elected, the Westminster gossips started muttering about his business dealings.

Blair stuck by his man

Tony Blair, meanwhile, remained loyal. Mr Robinson, he insisted, was a hugely capable minister and a person who brought valuable business skills to the New Labour table at a time the party was desperate to woo the City and business.

And no one ever doubted that the Coventry MPs was anything other than a committed Labour man.

Mandy's home loan

But, despite his obvious skills, he ended up being at the centre of some of the most embarrassing scandals to hit Tony Blair's government.

Most notably, it was the feud between him and his ex-friend Peter Mandelson which did so much damage to New Labour's squeaky clean credentials.

When the two men fell out and their spin doctors started sniping at each other there was only one way the affair was going to end - in disaster.

That came in the revelation that Mr Robinson had "lent" Mr Mandelson £373,000 to buy a house he couldn't afford.

It ended both their frontbench careers and saw the Old Labour backbenchers tapping their noses and declaring "we told you so."

Then there were the accusations about his business dealings which just kept on coming.

Scurrying for cover

Finally, after months of investigations, he has been found guilty of not being able to prove he did not receive cash from Robert Maxwell - another businessman who held Labour under his spell.

Mind you, any mention of the name of Robert Maxwell can still send many of his old Labour pals scurrying for cover.

The upshot, which has come as no great surprise to anyone in Westminster, is likely to see Mr Robinson kicked out of the House for three weeks.

Not that many will notice, this was the man who once went "missing" from the Commons for the best part of a year.

And his punishment is hardly punitive. Some of the best names in the business have been kicked out of the Chamber at one time or another.

Even the current father of the House, Tam Dalyell, was exiled for five days after refusing to withdraw a claim that the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, had lied to the House.

Ian Paisley got five days for accusing the then Northern Ireland Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, of lying about links with the IRA.

And there are numerous other examples, both recent and historic.

That does not undermine the significance of the punishment, which is the only real sanction that can be used against an MP.

What is far more damaging is the effect such a ban can have on the individual's standing and the ammunition it hands to the opposition.