Labour given funding rules grant

Saturday, 8 December 2007 12:00 AM

Labour received £183,000 in public money to train officials in new funding rules shortly before the party accepted secret donations, it has emerged.

The start-up grant was given to the party by the Electoral Commission in 2001 and 2002 in order to help officials understand regulations imposed after the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act (PPERA) was passed in 2000.

According to the Electoral Commission accounts, the party received £165,000 in 2001 and £18,000 the following year.

But shortly after the grants were received Labour began accepting donations from property developer David Abrahams which had been channelled through intermediaries.

The businessman has given £663,975 to the party using other people's names since 2003.

He has denied reports that his donations were given anonymously to avoid claims of a Jewish conspiracy, maintaining he asked intermediaries to act as conduits for his money to protect his privacy.

His donations were illegal under the terms of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendum Act which states that people must use their own names when giving more than £5,000 to a political party.

A spokeswoman for the Electoral Commission said the grants were given to all political parties, with a fund of £700,000 divided between the parties on the basis of the number of votes they received in the 1997 general election and the 1999 European elections.

The Conservative party received a similar sum from the commission, with the grants intended to aid officials in understanding protocol for the submission of accounts and the correct procedure for declaring donations above £5,000.

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• party politics