In their pocket! Eight Labour frontbenchers get union donations
LABOUR frontbenchers were bankrolled by the country’s most militant union, parliamentary records show. Eight members of the Shadow Cabinet received donations of thousands of pounds from the RMT rail union around the time of the general election.
They include Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott and shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald. Another six backbench MPs were given money by the hard-Left union.
In total, the RMT – whose leaders have spoken of overthrowing capitalism – gave at least £56,500 to Labour MPs around the time of the election.
The information, contained in the parliamentary Register of Members’ Inter-
‘Trade union paymasters’
ests, will intensify concerns that the Labour Party leadership is in hock to militant unions. The donations indicate that the RMT – which was expelled from Labour under Tony Blair – is now much happier with the leftward lurch of the party under Mr Corbyn.
The RMT is one of Britain’s most strikeprone unions. It has recently caused misery for commuters by holding more than 30 days of strike action on the Southern network over the past year.
Its president said in September that the union’s No 1 aim was to ‘strive to replace the capitalist system with a socialist order’.
During the Blair years, the RMT was expelled from the party after it clashed with the leadership over its moderate direction. But last month Mr Corbyn appeared at the union’s annual conference and urged its members to help him replace the Tory Government.
He also urged them to reafilliate with Labour, meaning thousands of pounds would start to flow into the party coffers.
Details of the donations, published yesterday, showed that Mr Corbyn’s local association in Islington North received £5,000 from the RMT. The money was registered on July 7, a month after the election, during which the unions vociferously supported the Labour campaign.
The donation came a year after the RMT gave him £25,000 towards his leadership bid.
Mr McDonnell also received a donation from the union – but the records do not state how much. Miss Abbott received £2,500, while party chairman Ian Lavery got £5,000. Mr McDonald was given £4,000 and Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, received £4,300.
Some £5,700 was given to shadow education secretary Angela Rayner, while Cat Smith, who attends the Shadow Cabinet as youth engagement spokesman, got £5,000.
Labour backbenchers also received money from the union, including £ 5,000 for Kelvin Hopkins and £ 8,000 for Ian Mearns. Clive Lewis, the former shadow defence secretary, got £3,000. Three other former Shadow Cabinet members – Grahame Morris, Teresa Pearce and Jo Stevens – got £ 9,000 between them.
Last night Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: ‘At least the public now know why Labour are on the side of their fellow militant trade union paymasters, and not the many hard-pressed, strike- disrupted rail commuters.’
Earlier this month, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling accused Labour leaders of causing misery for passengers by ‘egging on’ the rail unions to strike.
He told MPs there was a ‘direct link’ between Labour’s attempts to cause disruption for the Government this summer and the unions’ decisions to re- embark upon industrial action. Mr Grayling said the findings of an official report ‘ make clear’ that industrial action by the RMT and Aslef is the main cause of disruption for passengers on the Southern rail network – and that the train service had improved since that action largely ceased in January.
The Transport Secretary’s allegations came weeks after Mr McDonnell called on union bosses to ‘get every union mobilised – get out on the streets’.
It was also revealed that Mr Corbyn received two free tickets to the Glastonbury festival.
The Labour leader received a rapturous welcome when he appeared at the festival this summer – although he later had to criticise Glastonbury organisers after it emerged they used zero hours contracts.