The new Labour government has been fending off accusations of cronyism for more than a week, and the latest chapter may cause the biggest headache yet for Keir Starmer.
It’s been revealed that media mogul Lord Waheed Alli, one of the biggest personal donors to the PM, was temporarily given a pass to Downing Street in the weeks after the election last month.
The Tories have raised eyebrows at this, with the shadow paymaster general John Glen saying such a pass is a ‘privilege’ which is typically only given to ‘civil servants and special advisors’.
‘It is therefore deeply concerning that a pass was granted to a Labour donor providing unfettered access to the heart of government after significant cash and non-cash donations were made to the Labour Party,’ he wrote in a letter to Cabinet Secretary Simon Case.
Those donations included £500,000 to the party and tens of thousands to Starmer himself – which was spent on items including new suits and several pairs of glasses.
Lord Alli isn’t exactly a murky figure operating in the shadows. During the General Election, he served as Labour’s chief fundraiser, in charge of pressing potential donors for cash.
He has sat in the House of Lords as a Labour life peer since being ennobled by Tony Blair in 1998.
Yesterday, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden told Times Radio that Alli ‘might have needed [the pass] for a short time after the election.
He added: ‘But he does bring a huge amount to the Labour Party. He was an important part of the election campaign.
‘And, as I say, he’s a very highly respected peer. I don’t believe there’s anything being done here that’s in conflict with the rules.’
Nonetheless, questions remain over why Alli ‘needed’ the pass at that time, what his job title was during the time he held it, and why it was handed back.
In his letter to the cabinet secretary, Glen also asked whether any other Labour donors had been given security passes for Number 10 and whether Starmer or his chief of staff Sue Gray had requested the pass for Alli.
Former banker Ian Corfield, who donated £20,000 to Labour MPs including £2,000 to now-Chancellor Rachel Reeves, stepped down from a civil service role at the Treasury yesterday after days of criticism.
The Conservatives said the government was guilty of ‘hypocrisy off the scale’ following his appointment, as Labour regularly accused the Tories of cronyism while in opposition.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones told BBC Radio 4’s World At One that the decision to appoint Corfield was ‘perfectly appropriate’, adding: ‘There’s no suggestion that any rules have been broken because they haven’t.’
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