SIR Keir Starmer faces a new sleaze row over Labour offering access to “influential” figures for cash.
Since last summer a group linked to the party has been flogging sponsorship packages costing £9,500 to private firms.
In exchange business leaders are invited to private meetings with “key policymakers” where they can “shape the conversation”.
Sponsorship packs offered to companies include a £7,850 deal, where buyers can enjoy a “private breakfast/dinner roundtable with an influential Labour figure”.
There’s also an £11,750 option to sponsor a “parliamentary panel event with key policymakers” or £30,000 choice to pay for a “Westminster drinks reception”.
The cash for access, revealed by The Times, is organised by a group called the Labour Infrastructure Forum (LIF).
Because it’s run by lobbyists and a council of Labour bigwigs, but isn’t itself a lobbying company, it is exempt from usual anti-sleaze rules.
The organisation so far refuses to reveal which firms have signed up to its lucrative deals and who the influential Labour figures are that have taken part in back-room meet ups.
A spokesperson for LIF said the group uses sponsorship cash to cover costs and “any LIF activity that is supported by sponsors will be made publicly available at the time and in our annual report, as is common across the industry”.
A Labour Party spokesman said: “Commercial partnerships at events are a longstanding practice and have no bearing on party or government policy.
The party fully complies with all rules relating to the reporting of donations.”
GettyKeir Starmer faces a new sleaze row over Labour offering access to ‘influential’ figures for cash[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
