Labour’s election war chest has been boosted by a car glass repair tycoon promising £5m to the party.
Gary Lubner, who made hundreds of millions of pounds running the company behind Autoglass, hopes his support will keep Labour in power “for a long time”.
He gave the party £500,000 in the first quarter of the year and said this increased “significantly” in the last three months. That was on top of £200,000 in previous donations “This is the beginning,” Mr Lubner told the Financial Times.
“I intend to give more as we move towards the general election,” he added. Mr Lubner did not give an exact figure, but suggested £5m was reasonable.
The South African-born businessman – whose grandparents were Jewish refugees – said he was appalled by the scale of antisemitism in the Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. His son, a Labour student activist, was “abused, pilloried, attacked”, under Mr Corbyn’s tenure.
And Mr Lubner praised Mr Corbyn’s successor Sir Keir Starmer for “getting rid” of the “cancer” of antisemitism plaguing the party. Mr Lubner said his
He also took aim at the Conservative Party’s record in government, describing the last 13 years as “a disaster”. “In the long list of Tory failures in the last 13 years, Brexit is top of the list,” he said. He also lashed out at the government’s migration strategy.
And Mr Lubner denied he was trying to secure a peerage with the donations, insisting he wanted to give away “the vast majority” of his wealth. He hopes the support will help Labour win and keep hold of power, and is also donating to affiliated think-tanks and a group aiming to get more women elected as Labour MPs.
The donation comes amid a resurgence in support for Labour among the business community – which shunned the party under Mr Corbyn’s leadership.
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Sir Keir and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves have been on a charm offensive in the City, pitching Labour as the party of business. New Labour era backer David Sainsbury returned to the fold with a £2m donation in February, stating he wanted to “see Keir Starmer become prime minister as soon as possible”.
And a former Tory donor who defected to the opposition told The Independent that “dozens” of leading figures – including some former Tory donors – had approached him asking how they could help to put Sir Keir in No 10.
Mr Lubner made a fortune worth hundreds of millions of pounds running the company behind Autoglass, Belron, for two decades before stepping down in March.
