Labour chairman gets a £165k union handout
THE chairman of the Labour Party last night faced questions over £165,000 he received from a National Union of Mineworkers’ branch propped up with money from sick miners’ compensation.
Ian Lavery, a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn, was general secretary of the NUM’s Northumberland area and the union’s national president before becoming MP for Wansbeck in 2010.
A report from the Certification Office, which regulates unions, shows he was lent £ 72,500 from the union’s benevolent fund to buy a property. The loan was written off in 2007.
It added that Mr Lavery and his wife kept £18,000 from an endowment policy on the property.
The report also shows that Mr Lavery received ‘termination payments’ from the union – totalling £89,887 – even though he left his union role to become an MP. It said the union overpaid him £30,600 in redundancy money, but after a dispute he volunteered to repay only £15,000.
During his tenure the union branch received donations from miners who had been compensated for industrial injuries.
These included more than £1million from payouts for vibration white finger and more than £600,000 from compensation for chronic bronchitis and emphysema, according to its annual returns.
The report said the union had been unable to provide documentary evidence showing why Mr Lavery had received redundancy money when he had quit the union role. The branch now has only around ten members.
Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke last night urged Labour to take action against Mr Lavery. He said: ‘I would call on Jeremy Corbyn to condemn this action as it is clearly against all his socialist principles.’
Sutton Tory MP Paul Scully, who has raised the case with the parliamentary commissioner for stand- ards, told London’s Evening Standard: ‘The report raises many questions about the possible misuse of thousands of pounds earmarked for the support of mineworkers.’ Tory colleague Chris Philp called for an investigation. He said: ‘Ian Lavery has serious questions to answer.’
A senior Labour MP told the newspaper: ‘This may not be criminal but it appears unethical.’
Another Labour figure claimed: ‘ The Certification Officer has exposed something which doesn’t pass the smell test.’
Mr Lavery said: ‘Under my stewardship, the union always complied with the rules and the Certification Officer signed off every year’s transactions. As the Certification Officer’s report makes clear, no member of the union, past or present, has made a complaint about the financial affairs of the union. I am pleased that the Certification Officer has decided to not take further action.
‘This report should draw a line under almost two years of allega- tions and innuendo.’ Mr Lavery established himself as a critic of the New Labour faction in the party after his election in 2010. He quit as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Harriet Harman in 2012 after opposing the party’s decision to support raising the pension age. The Labour Party declined to comment.
‘Doesn’t pass the smell test’