Labour chief was handed £165,000 by miners’ union

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 £1 ,000 from an endowment policy on the property.

The report also shows that Mr Lavery received ‘termination payments’ from the union – totalling £ 9, 7 – 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’ compensation. These included more than £1million from payouts for vibration white finger and more than £600,000 from compensation for chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

Last night Mr Lavery said: ‘Under my stewardship, the union always complied with the rules and the certification officer signed off every year’s transactions.’