Scottish Labour donor refuses to fund election campaign
ONE of Scottish Labour’s biggest donors has said he will not hand over any money for the General Election campaign after the party blocked a council deal with the Tories in Aberdeen.
Alan Massie, the northeast tycoon who bankrolled Kezia Dugdale’s leadership campaign, described Labour’s decision to ban a coalition with the Conservatives as “ridiculous”.
He said of his donor status: “I am not going to give any more until we see the direction of the party after June 8.”
Dugdale is under pressure as Scottish Labour leader after colleagues on Aberdeen City Council ignored a party edict on forming an administration with the Tories. Labour’s governing Scottish Executive Committee (SEC) vetoed a deal, but the nine councillors pushed ahead anyway and were suspended.
Dugdale said at the time: “This isn’t about positions or gold medals around the necks of councillors, this is about the job Labour councillors are elected to do – to protect public services, to invest in and defend public services.”
Massie, who along with businessman Willie Haughey is Labour’s most generous donor from Scotland, has blasted the SEC decision Dugdale staunchly defends.
Speaking to the Sunday Herald, he said: “It is ridiculous the SEC never supported the deal.”
He said the Labour/Tory agreement ensured all the party’s manifesto commitments would be implemented: “I think the party has got this so wrong. The criteria were all met and they have erred on their own policy.”
Massie said Labour explicitly ran on their local credentials in the northeast: “On the ballot paper candidates stood as Aberdeen Labour. They got the consent of the Scottish Labour leader to do that. Members of 35 years have been left in tears.”
Massie said the SNP’s continued push for independence was the reason why a Tory deal was on the table: “If the SNP would stop speaking about independence there might have been a coalition agreement.”
He also insisted his party required “big changes” and said he would not give Labour any donations for the campaign: “I am sitting tight until June 8.”
According to the Electoral Commission, Massie has ploughed around £400,000 into Scottish Labour, UK Labour and party candidates across the UK. He gave £25,000 to Owen Smith, who challenged Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership, and £15,000 to Dugdale’s campaign to become Scottish leader. This financial contribution amounted to over 80 per cent of her campaign war chest and outstripped the £2,000 provided by trade union Community. He is considered to be on the moderate wing of the party and is not believed to be a fan of Corbyn.
Scottish Tory MSP Liam Kerr said: “This won’t be the only Labour donor appalled at the conduct of Kezia Dugdale and the central party. Voters are turned off by this civil war too, and Labour will pay the price. It again goes to show the only party voters who want to stand up to the SNP are the Scottish Conservatives.”
A spokesman for Scottish Labour said: “Labour’s approach has been clear and consistent. We absolutely cannot do any deal with another party if it would result in further austerity being imposed on local communities. The Tories are a pro-austerity party and the SEC panel did not accept that working families in Aberdeen would be protected from further cuts as the result of the proposed deal with the Tories.”