Jamie fuels Tory blight
NEWCASTLE co-owner Jamie Reuben was pictured with volunteers and fans collecting for the city’s food bank at the match against Brentford last week.
The property tycoon is matching every donation at the match-day collection point for the rest of the season, which will help feed families across Tyneside to the tune of a few thousand pounds.
It shows the new owners want to engage with the community, and if billionaires want to help tackle poverty and have a social conscience, that can only be a good thing.
But donating to a food bank does not sit well alongside the huge political donations of Reuben Junior, and his wider family, to the Conservative Party and its leader Boris Johnson.
The Electoral Commission lists Jamie Reuben’s donations to the Tory
Party since October 2019 as £639,977. Boris Johnson MP was himself gifted a total of £50,000 in May and June two years ago.
Last week, the Prime Minister shared a table with Simon and David Reuben at the £15,000-a-table Conservative Winter Ball fundraiser.
Fellow co-owner Amanda Staveley gave the Tories £22,000 in 2019.
The austerity programme of the Conservative government created the need for fans’ food banks. The Tory party decimated the budget of Newcastle City Council – who have been forced to save £335million since 2010, which is £2,454 per household.
Services have been slashed, reducing the safety net for the poorest – and food-bank usage has soared.
Perhaps Reuben, who last chipped in to the Conservative coffers in April (£125,000), will now realise this money can be better spent, rather than aiding Johnson’s shambolic reign.