Public money 'donated' to Labour

The Labour Party has accepted a series of large payments originating from Labour-controlled council money, a BBC investigation reveals. The revelation came during an investigation by BBC One's Kenyon Confronts into unelected power and influence in the UK. The Labour Party has accepted a total of nearly £150,000 of Labour-controlled public money through payments handed over by the Manchester Airport Group (MAG), since 1997. MAG is a commercial company that is 100% owned by the 10 councils of Greater Manchester and the biggest shareholder of the group, Manchester City Council (55%), is Labour-run. The Labour Party has overall control, or a majority, in nine out of 10 of these councils. Since all profits from the airport group go back to the councils, this is money that could have been spent on local services. Out of the total handed over by MAG, £78,000 was given between 2001 and 2003 and is listed by the Electoral Commission under these latest rules as "cash donations". It took two years for MAG to realise this money would be defined as donations and eventually ask for the money back. MAG says this move was simply to outline its position as a company that does not make political donations and was not an admission of any wrongdoing. The amount has now been returned by the Labour Party with interest. The remainder - approximately £71,000 - has never been returned.

The cash-for-runways scandal

Manchester Airport plc has recently donated £60,000 in cash to the Labour Party. This is an especially dubious arrangement, as Manchester Airport plc is 55% owned by Manchester city council, which is run by the Labour Party. Labour runs the council, the council controls the airport, the airport funds Labour. The airport company’s cash donations would pay for Labour’s entire local election campaign in Manchester in 2003 three times over. The Manchester airport donations scandal2.1 Manchester Airport plc has made in-kind donations that would probably pay for Labour’s local election campaign throughout the North West region. Between February 2001 and October 2002 donations from Manchester airport to Labour totalled £271,723.02. Manchester airport is now Labour's 21st biggest donor. Of this, £60,000 were cash donations. This sum dwarfed British Airways’ donations to the Labour Party, and would fund the election campaign of all 34 Labour candidates in Manchester in the 1 May 2003 elections almost three times over. (The maximum sum those 34 candidates can legally spend in totals £23,446.32, but this is likely to be more than Labour actually spends.) What’s worse about the Manchester situation is that manchester Airport plc is publicly owned, being the property jointly of the ten boroughs in Greater Manchester. Manchester city council, which is Labour-run, owns 55% of the shares and thus has the controlling influence. In effect, an airport under the control of a Labour council has made in-kind donations to Labour of over £200,000, plus £60,000 in cash, from money that really belongs to the public. Around the time of these donations, Manchester airport bosses awarded themselves an 86% pay increase.