Foreign owned UK companies making £50k Tory donations

rwendland Sat Oct 25, 2008 at 10:21:13 AM GMT Print-friendly version Facebook

The Times has the bit between the teeth following the Osborne/Rothschild yacht affair, and has tracked down many UK companies with foreign ownership that have made £50,000 donations to the tories. This follows on from the Tory statement that Feldman told Oleg Deripaska a donation was OK "Secondly, if the donation comes from a legitimate UK trading company."



The Times says "23 corporate donations of exactly £50,000 and five of £100,000 [have been made] during the Cameron era." One might be illegal because it was not trading:

Another donation of £50,000 was given in June this year by Sleepwell Hotels UK, which is owned by a trust in the Isle of Man. The latest filed accounts at Companies House for 2006 show that this entity did no trading. The law states that a company must be “carrying on business” for a donation to be eligible.

Though one of the directors has said it has traded since those accounts.

I wonder if Murdoch is encouraging his papers to get at Osborne for starting the blabbing about the yacht party, which was to do with his daughter's 40th birthday.

It has also leaked out that Cameron had a free flight on Murdoch's son-in-law's private plane.

Update: Sunday Mirror reports that Jack Straw may add new rules to the Political Parties and Election Bill to stop some foreign owned UK companies making political donations. I wonder how that would work.

Update2: According to The Independent a £50k donation gets you dinner with Cameron and membership of the "Leader's Group" - which is why £50k is a popular donation.



tags: , , (all tags)

Display: Sort:
Foreign owned UK companies making £50k Tory donations | 9 comments (9 topical)

Re: Foreign owned UK companies donating £50k (#1)

by NB on Sat Oct 25, 2008 at 09:17:06 PM GMT

Yes this is a Murdoch thin cos of his daughter - and who knows what business relationships his family has with Mr D?

Since Mittal (and Indian National) has given over £3M to Labour through his UK companies, these odd donations of £50k are neither here nor there.  



Re: Foreign owned UK companies donating £50k (#2)

by LabourMatters on Sat Oct 25, 2008 at 09:37:46 PM GMT

One word: Ashcroft!


[ Parent ]

Re: Foreign owned UK companies donating £50k (#3)

by madasafish on Sun Oct 26, 2008 at 03:02:51 PM GMT

Sainsbury.


[ Parent ]

Re: Foreign owned UK companies donating £50k (#7)

by degauntier on Sat Nov 01, 2008 at 04:52:49 PM GMT

Lord Sainsbury is, as far as anyone knows, UK resident, taxpayer and registered to vote.

Lord Ashcroft is (as far as we know) not a UK resident, not a UK taxpayer, and indeed it is not certain that he is registered to vote in the UK.

(As Peers they can't, of course, vote in parliamentary elections, but if resident (or resident within the last fifteen years) they can vote in Euro and local government elections).


[ Parent ]

Re: Foreign owned UK companies donating £50k (#4)

by LabourStill on Sun Oct 26, 2008 at 07:33:18 PM GMT

Well if Labour benefits so much more than the Tories from overseas donors channelling money through UK companies, then the Tory Party frontbench will preumably wholeheartedly support Jack Straw in his plan to outlaw this practice when the Political Parties and Elections Bill goes through parliament.

I look forward to seeing Dave and George helping to clear up this inconsistency in the law!


[ Parent ]

Re: Foreign owned UK companies donating £50k (#5)

by Floating voter on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 07:38:52 PM GMT

And no doubt Labour will enthusiastically endorse plans to stop the unions bankrolling the party with several millions per year.

Err.....


[ Parent ]

Re: Foreign owned UK companies... (#6)

by AngryVoter on Fri Oct 31, 2008 at 05:19:16 PM GMT

I wonder I wonder I wonder...

How many, precisely, of these companies were donating to the Labour Party for the last decade under Blair, hmm?

The second they stop supporting Labour, the rules are suddenly to change, isn't that interesting?

How many backhand favours did Blair and Co garner off of Murdoch when his paper empire supported him?

And how quiet the Labour voices were during that time of his "monopoly" supporting them...

And how many of these companies were sold to foreign companies within the last decade under Labour in the drive to become and "international economy"? [Whatever that is.]

Does anybody stop to consider what they're writing on here since the new folks began to arrive, or do they just enjoy airbrushing history?

I'm genuinely starting to wonder, it's stopped being about interesting debate around points of ideology and is just... well, Labour HQ propaganda and nonsense.


Re: Foreign owned UK companies... (#8)

by adwilliams134 on Sun Nov 02, 2008 at 04:42:44 PM GMT

The funniest thing - which had me burst out loud laughing when I read it - is that the russian invloved in all of this cannot get a visitor's visa to the USA because of his alleged connections to organised crime and criminals,  yet he's apparently a friend of the Murdochs and Mandelson.  Which supports the old saying 'You can judge a man by the company he keeps'. 


[ Parent ]

Re: Foreign owned UK companies... (#9)

by AngryVoter on Sun Nov 02, 2008 at 08:43:28 PM GMT

Pretty much, yes. But this is after all "The Dark Art" of Party fundraising, it's always been murky, but slightly less corrupted than state financing.


[ Parent ]

Foreign owned UK companies making £50k Tory donations | 9 comments (9 topical)