Labour has hosted major party donors at No 10 for a drinks reception, as the party comes under growing pressure from MPs and unions to consider a donations cap.
asserted
party → host → cap
The Guardian understands that high-level donors, including business leaders and philanthropists, were hosted by cabinet ministers in Downing Street for an evening reception on Tuesday.
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donors → understand → Tuesday
Donors from the party’s Rose Network give thousands of pounds a year to the party.
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Donors → give → party
Andy Burnham is under increased pressure from MPs to consider new restrictions for domestic donors after Reform UK received £72m from two cryptobillionaires, Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, over the course of 48 hours.
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UK → increase → hours
A Labour source said the donors event had been organised in advance of the Reform donations news.
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event → say → news
Over the weekend, Labour also stepped up fundraising from members, directly in response to the donations.
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Labour → step → donations
The party’s chair, Bridget Phillipson, sent out two fundraising emails – understood to have both raised significant sums – calling on members to step up.
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members → send → sums
The Labour email said Reform had secured “record-breaking financial backing – but for us it has to be a call to action …
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it → say → action
We cannot let less than a handful of extraordinarily wealthy crypto-billionaires simply drown Labour’s message out in elections to come [with] Reform dominating what voters see and hear, Labour fighting to be heard.”
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Labour → let → what
The follow-up email had a message from Phillipson saying: “When I saw that two crypto-billionaires had given Reform £72m, I had the same thought you probably did: how do you compete with that?
“Then I watched the response from Labour supporters.
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I → have → supporters
People donated what they could …
uncertain
they → donate → ?
One person can’t match £72m.
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person → match → 72
But thousands of us, standing together, can make sure Labour is as well-resourced for the fight ahead as it is possible to be.”
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it → stand → fight
On Tuesday, trade union leaders at the TUC stopped short of backing a cap on political donations, but called for further action on big money in politics.
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leaders → stop → politics
General secretaries have been split on a call for unions to back a specific cap on individual donors to political parties while protecting trade union donations, which the TUC said were the “cleanest money in politics” because they came from workers’ subscriptions.
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they → split → subscriptions
The TUC’s general secretary, Paul Nowak, said the donations to Reform were “a blatant attempt to effect a corporate takeover of our politics” and this should “ring alarm bells”.
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this → say → bells
Downing Street, however, will take some succour from the warmer tone of union chiefs towards the party leadership at the annual TUC gathering in Brighton this week.
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Street → take → Brighton
Since 2020, Labour has received almost £43m from affiliated trade unions, which raise their money through individual workers’ membership fees.
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which → receive → fees
Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, who had previously threatened to break the link with Labour, said Andy Burnham had earned the party a “second hearing”.
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Burnham → threaten → hearing
Several other union leaders spoke of warm chats with the prime minister since he took office, and felt they were getting more of a hearing than when Keir Starmer was in No 10.
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Starmer → speak → No
However, despite welcoming the “Burnham bounce”, which they saw as giving Labour a better chance of fighting off the Reform threat, they warned there were key tests ahead for the government, including at the budget.
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they → welcome → budget
Labour is under significant financial pressure, especially after several byelections, including the Greater Manchester mayoralty.
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Labour → include → mayoralty
Its most recent accounts filed with the Electoral Commission show Labour has lost more than a fifth of its membership in the space of a year, though party sources have said membership had gone up in anticipation of a possible leadership election, and since Burnham became prime minister.
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Burnham → file → election
Income from donations has dropped by 84% since the election year, a drop that would be expected but is still significant.
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that → drop → year
Last year, the party reported a £2.6m deficit.
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party → report → deficit
One union leader said the party was still “millions” in the red.
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party → say → red
However, Labour’s outgoing general secretary, Hollie Ridley, was understood to have told the party’s governing national executive committee that finances were healthy.
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finances → understand → committee
She said the party was in its strongest financial position since the general election, due to spending discipline and increased fundraising efforts.
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party → say → discipline
The Aporia
