Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Labour Party bolstered its election war chest by over £13m last year thanks to record private donations. Autoglass boss Gary Lubner led the charge as he donated £4.5m to the party, having previously pledged to give more to Labour before an election.Speaking to the Financial Times last year, the South African-born businessman – whose grandparents were Jewish refugees – said he had been appalled by the scale of antisemitism in the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and praised Keir Starmer for ridding the party of its “cancer”.The party is now celebrating its best performing year ever for individual donations as it maintains a 22-point lead ahead of the Tories in polls.Lubner had previously deserted Labour under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership Anneliese Dodds, Labour Party chair, said: “With Keir Starmer’s leadership, the Labour Party is a changed party and donors can see we are serious about delivering for working people with five missions to transform Britain.“We have received a significant financial boost, with last year being our best on record, but as the Tories gear up for a May election, we will continue to fundraise to meet it.”Despite senior Conservative officials insisting the country won’t take to the polls until the second half of the year, senior Labour party sources say they are preparing for a May election. Labour’s shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth made a bet with Sky News’ Kay Burley that there would be election in that month.He said: “This election is coming in May. I think it is definitely coming in May … the Conservatives are planning for that.”Now Sir Keir’s party have a war chest to tackle the wealthier Tories – receiving more than £13m in individual and company donations in 2023, with a massive £4.2m in the final quarter of the year alone, according to figures published by the Electoral Commission.Jonathan Ashworth has made a public bet that the country would go to the polls in May British businessman and philanthropist Sir David Sainsbury, former chair of Sainsbury’s and life peer, gave £3m, while his daughter Francesca Perrin was the biggest-donating woman with a £1m gift. Sir David had been a long-standing Labour donor but deserted the party under Jeremy Corbyn, instead gifting £8m to the Lib Dems. He returned to the fold under Keir Starmer’s leadership.In 2021, the party received just £1.5m in private donations, and in 2022, £5.9m. Last year was rivalled only by 2005, when the party raised £10.8m under Tony Blair.Labour also accepted another £1m from green energy industrialist Dale Vince’s Ecotricity firm in November, according to figures published by the Electoral Commission.Green energy industrialist Dale Vince has donated £1m to the LabourThe Conservative Party also had a successful fundraising year, taking in almost £41m in private donations in 2023.The Tories’ single biggest donation came from the late Lord John Davan Sainsbury – the cousin of Sir David – who gave the party £10m in his will.In total, Labour received around £31m in cash donations to the central party overall, while the ruling party secured around £48m.The Liberal Democrats reported around £8m and Reform UK £255,000 in total cash donations for the year.£200,000 of Reform’s donation came from First Corporate Consultants Ltd, a company owned by prominent climate sceptic and former Tory donor Terence Mordaunt.The party also accepted £10,000 from financier Crispin Odey in August 2023, around two months after misconduct allegations against him emerged, the figures confirm.The Conservatives have been approached for comment. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailDavid Cameron has called for 500 aid trucks a day to prevent famine in Gaza as he downplayed a diplomatic rift with Germany. The foreign secretary emphasised the “incredible unity between allies” when asked about leaked calls between German military officials. Intercepted by Russia, these appeared to show officials suggesting British service personnel were on the ground in Ukraine.Lord Cameron told a press conference in Berlin: “I don’t want to play into the hands of some Russian narrative about divisions between allies. What I see … is incredible unity between allies, incredible unity in Nato.”He also reiterated his call for much more to be done to help get aid to Gaza as he warned of a looming humanitarian catastrophe. “If we want to avoid famine, disease and help people in Gaza we need 500 [aid] trucks a day,” he said. He added that the wanted to ‘turn a pause (in fighting) into a permanent sustainable ceasefire’.His visit comes as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faces pressure from Western allies and others to supply Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles.Lord Cameron said that peace would be achieved by “helping the Ukrainians deliver what they need on the battlefield”.He said: “It’s a sovereign decision for every country. But in terms of what Britain has done, I know that what we have given to the Ukrainians has helped them to resist this appalling invasion.”To all those in Germany and beyond and around the continent, around the world, who want to see an end to this conflict, who want to see a peaceful settlement, who want to see peace on our continent, I absolutely agree that you get peace through strength.”You get peace by demonstrating that Putin cannot win, you get peace by helping the Ukrainians deliver what they need on the battlefield.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email Leading British economic think tanks warned Thursday that whoever wins the general election expected this year will face some very tough choices on tax and spending if they want to make sure the public finances don’t deteriorate further.After number-crunching Wednesday’s budget statement from Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt, which reduced a tax paid by employees on their earnings for a second time in four months, both the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Resolution Foundation said the economic inheritance facing the next government will arguably be one of the bleakest any has faced since World War II.They said the combination of high interest payments on debt and muted economic growth mean that both the governing Conservative Party and the main opposition Labour Party will struggle to deliver on their ambitions. A general election must take place by Jan. 2025, but it could come as soon as May. With opinion polls showing that his Conservative Party, in power since 2010, is heading for one of its biggest ever defeats, the prevailing view is that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will opt to go to the country in the fall, potentially at the same time as the U.S. presidential election. On Thursday, following the budget statement, Labour leader Keir Starmer once again challenged Sunak to call an election for May, while the prime minister brushed aside any questions about its timing.“The task for whoever wins is huge,” said Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation. “They will need to both wrestle with implausible spending cuts, and also restart sustained economic growth — the only route to end Britain’s stagnation.”Like others, the British economy has taken a battering over the past few years as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In combination, they have pushed the country’s debt level up to near 60-year highs above 90%. As a result, the government has been pushed into raising taxes over the past few years and despite Wednesday’s cut in national insurance, the overall tax burden is expected to rise to its highest level since the late 1940s. Unsurprisingly, living standards, on average, have fallen since the Conservatives won the last election in Dec. 2019.Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said the next parliament “could well prove to be the most difficult of any in 80 years” for anyone wanting to bring debt down as a proportion of national income — the lessons of the European debt crisis, particularly as it related to Greece, following the 2008 financial crisis, is a reminder of what can happen when debt rises too far. “Even stabilizing debt as a fraction of national income is likely to mean some eye-wateringly tough choices — and we are talking tens of billions of pounds worth of tough choices — on tax and spending,” he said.Neither the Conservative Party, nor the main opposition Labour Party, have laid out how they can meet their wider policy objectives given the fiscal constraints. It’s clear after Wednesday’s budget that the Conservatives will make tax cuts a central plank of their proposition to extend their time in power, while Labour will fight the election on the need to improve the public services.“Government and opposition are joining in a conspiracy of silence in not acknowledging the scale of the choices and trade-offs that will face us after the election,” said Johnson. “They, and we, could be in for a rude awakening when those choices become unavoidable.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailJeremy Hunt called the BBC “unworthy” during heated exchanges on the Budget during an interview on Radio 4’s Today programme.The chancellor criticised programme host Amol Rajan after he called Mr Hunt a “fiscal drag queen” and said his plans to boost NHS productivity were “Soviet.” Mr Rajan said Britain was “ravaged by economic shocks” and the economy was “at best drifting, at worst stagnant.”Addressing the chancellor on theToday programme, the BBC presenter said:“We’ve seen seven quarters of GDP per head that’s been revised downwards. We’re hooked on foreign labour. The birth rate is collapsing. Many public services are creaking. Councils are going bust. Those are facts.”The angry Mr Hunt replied that the remarks were “unworthy of the BBC… and unworthy of you Amol”Undeterred, an indignant Mr Rajan defended himself and the corporation saying: “It’s not about what I think – these are the facts.“It’s a bit rich for you to say ‘I’m not a guy who does gimmicks’. People want radical change and you are not delivering it.”Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered his spring budget yesterday Mr Hunt sternly replied: “I disagree. We are doing better than other economies in Europe. I do not share your pessimism.”When Mr Rajan added “I’m trying not to be cynical,” Hunt interjected: “I’m not letting you get away with that.”Earlier in the show, Mr Rajan rattled the chancellor by referring to him as a “fiscal drag queen”.He said: “They call you the British fiscal drag queen for good reason. Tax levels are the highest since 1948”.Mr Hunt replied: “You accuse me of being a drag queen. I haven’t been called that before.”After claiming the economy was “at best drifting, at worst stagnant,” Mr Rajan added: “We have had seven quarters of falling per head GDP, we’re hooked on foreign labour, the birth rate is collapsing, many public services are creaking, councils are going bust.”Mr Hunt then lost his temper with the presenter after Mr Rajan said he was “stating facts” as he pointed out that the economy had contracted and public services are strained.As the two spoke over one another, Mr Rajan interjected: “The BBC is an organisation with tens of thousands of people who do lots of different things.”Mr Hunt added: “I’m afraid I don’t share your pessimism.” More