The state of Labour’s finances
JVL Introduction
The Labour Party’s finances are not in great shape.
At the end of 2022 the party appeared to have an estimated £15m “funding gap” with the Conservatives.
We know from the Forde Report that in 2017 much needed resources were diverted from frontline marginals with Ergon House staff “spending some £135,000 in total on campaigns supportive of sitting, largely anti-Corbyn MPs and not on campaigns for pro-Corbyn candidates in potentially Tory winnable seats”.
We also know that in the 2019 election money poured everywhere except to Labour which collected in £5.4m, barely more than the Brexit Party with its £4.2m – and dwarfed by the Tories’ £19.4m. The appearance of a disunited party, fostered by Corbyn’s detractors, clearly took its toll.
Since then, we know that Labour’s membership has plummeted and some trade unions have cut their financial support.
In the midst of all this, Starmer’s new management has done its best to squander resources on pursuing a vendetta against those who supported Corbyn.
First is a c.£600k settlement and formal apologies made to reporter, John Ware, and seven ex-employees of the Labour Party who claimed they had been libelled. The payment and settlement were widely queried at the time with Unite general secretary Len McCluskey on record saying that “Today’s settlement is a misuse of Labour party funds to settle a case it was advised we would win in court.”
He also pointed out that the leaked Labour report told a different story, one endorsed substantially in the Forde Report.
But rather than correct the wrongs and misdemeanours revealed in that Report, Labour has carried on its vendetta, this time pursuing five named others for having leaked the report.
Its attempt to shoot the messenger has led to another substantial and expensive defeat, as is made clear in the BBC report below. For the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which polices data breaches, has found “insufficient evidence” that any individual had unlawfully obtained or disclosed personal data and will not be pursuing the (pro-Corbyn) individuals Labour had claimed were responsible.
This article was originally published by BBC News on Fri 13 Jan 2023. Read the original here.
Ex-Corbyn staff court case could dent Labour election fund
A bitter internal feud dating back to the Jeremy Corbyn era could prove costly for Labour in the run-up to the next general election.
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If the NEC (Labour’s governing body, after all!) is getting worried about the costs and political consequences of Starmer and Evans’ vendettas then this is a welcome development … but long overdue.
My understanding of Labour’s constitution is that theoretically party control and operational power are divided between the NEC, Conference, the party membership and the PLP (including the Labour front bench team and party leader). Yet for the last 2 years all power and control seems to have been illegitimately seized by Starmer, Evans and whatever shadowy backers are behind this duo.
Starting from where we are now, what governance and sanctions changes can and should be made to protect the whole party against an illicit power grab by a clique?
Is the current Labour Party worth voting for? In my opinion, not – given that there are mainstream alternatives well to the left of Labour; the Greens in England and Wales, and the SNP and Greens in Scotland.
Labour is making ever clearer that its approach to the profound economic crisis facing Britain is not to tax the rich – even though the wealthiest 1% in Britain are now wealthier than 70% of the population taken together: https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2023/01/16/richest-1-now-wealthier-than-70-of-uk-population/
Rather, Labour wants to magically ‘turn the health service’ round by ‘cutting bureaucracy’ and allowing patients to self-admit to hospital (regardless of their actual symptoms), rather than address the issue of chronic underfunding, which would require them to put new money in. For the response of the Chair of the BMA to Labour’s ludicrous NHS proposals, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypX65qvIgl8 (from about 6 mins 30 seconds in).
The blatant corruption amongst too many Labour staff is clear. What’s less clear but we all need to know is why?
Simple Kevin..it’s to rot the Labour Party from within…there are sinister forces at work…what we need to know is who is behind it whether individuals, organisations, other parties or even countries.