Questionmarks over Livingstone's campaign finances
A £20,000 donation to Ken Livingstone's 2004 re-election campaign from train drivers' union Aslef was never publicly declared, it was claimed today" according to tonight's Evening Standard. "The gift does not appear anywhere on the Electoral Commission's register, even though its rules suggest any donation that "specifies that it is for the benefit of a particular candidate" must be recorded. ""Aslef accounts reveal that in 2003 the union made a £20,000 donation to "Mayor of London Electoral Campaign", yet nothing appears under Mr Livingstone's name on the commission website. ""The revelation has prompted further questions about how Mr Livingstone is able to raise money without having to make donors public, by asserting the money goes to the central party coffers. ""The Conservatives say that Aslef has made commuters' lives a misery through industrial action. ""There was further confusion last night because the £20,000 Aslef donation does not appear to have been put on the party's national register either, although the union gave 13 separate donations totalling £53,914. The Labour Party denies that any donations have not been declared properly. ""Greg Hands, Conservative MP for Hammersmith and Fulham, has attacked the Mayor's arrangements for donations and demanded he make his campaign finances public. ""He said: "It is outrageous that London voters do not know who is funding Ken Livingstone's expensive campaign for reelection. The whole point of these rules is to allow transparency yet Livingstone hasn't declared a single donation given to him since 2000. "" "The £20,000 Aslef donation wasn't even declared by the Labour Party, which shows that their arrangements for reporting donations made to Ken Livingstone are utterly flawed. In the public interest, he should release details of his donations right now." "I wonder has Livingstone received funding from his friend Hugo Chavez, the authoritarian leader who has ruined Venezuela, or from people associated with the organisations given taxpayers' money by the London Development Agency ? Or from the suicide-bombing condoning mullahs he invited to share platforms with him in London ?
David Giles ● 6761d0 Comments