Labour donors offered chance to mingle with Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner at conference for £50,000
Date: 2024-10-21PARTY donors were offered the chance to mingle with Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner at Labour conference for £50,000.
Business leaders were told they could pose for photos and would be given a designated staff member to help them make key introductions.
But first they had to sponsor official drinks parties with “packages†ranging from £30,000 to £50,000.
Last night, Labour tried to disown former director Liam Didsbury — now a lobbyist — after he sent the invites.
He contacted a slew of businesses on September 13 to drum up cash for the conference bashes in Liverpool — boasting the “Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers†would be there.
He shared an official Labour document with the pricing options — but a party spokesman suggested he was over-promising.
Last week, The Sun revealed Mr Didsbury’s touting of access to the Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds at a posh breakfast for any firms that paid a five-figure sum.
The “cash for croissants†deal was slammed by former party leader Ed Miliband, who warned officials not to repeat the offer.
Mr Didsbury did not respond to requests for comment, but Labour said: “We were not aware of this email. It isn’t an authorised party communication and it’s not something that was taken up.â€
But shadow minister Andrew Griffith said: “From ‘cash for croissants’ to now £50,000 for an escort to help access the PM, Labour have wasted no time in lining the pockets of the expensive suits Lord Alli has bought them.
“At a time when Rachel Reeves has talked business confidence into free fall, Labour should be begging to meet with businesses, not charging them.â€
Defence Secretary John Healey has admitted the fumbling No10 machine had become a “lightning conductor for criticism†in the time since the election.
Meanwhile, the fallout from Sue Gray’s exit as the PM’s Chief of Staff continues, with claims that she declared war on Sir Keir’s political team from day one in the job.
Insiders decried “three lost months of change†— accusing Ms Gray of being a road block in the job.
They said she believed there were far too many political advisers and attempted to bring officials in over their heads. One source said: “You can draw a straight line from that conversation to her exit.â€
Sir Keir attempted to move on from the infighting yesterday, insisting the operation was not “chaosâ€. He said he now has “the right structures in place to deliver change for the countryâ€.
Gray new citizens' push fear
By Jack Elsom & Harry Cole
SUE Gray may use her new “envoy for nations and regions†role to revive a citizens’ assemblies push, it was feared last night.
The axed chief of staff previously committed Labour to creating the unelected chambers to settle thorny issues.
She said they were “transformational†in Ireland even though “Whitehall will not like this because they have no controlâ€.
They are made up of random members of the public and run parallel to parliament.
Although Labour backtracked on the policy earlier this year, Ms Gray has been warned against using her demoted post as special envoy to the nations and regions to launch a fresh bid for her long-desired scheme.
But Tory Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Alex Burghart said: “We don’t need unelected officials using unelected assembly members to bypass elected parliaments.â€
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers will fear a return of the barmy idea of citizens assemblies, given Sue Gray’s new post.
“These talking-shops are simply another way for politicians to shift responsibility to anybody but themselves.
“Our elected officials should get on with decision making, which is the job that they’re paid to do.”
Ms Gray had championed citizens assemblies in Tom Baldwin’s biography of Sir Keir Starmer, in rare on-record remarks.
