LABOUR CONFERENCE
FAVOUR TOGETHER
LABOUR TOGETHER faces revived accusations that it used unreported money from rich donors for a secret campaign to make Keir Starmer Labour leader in 2020. But its activities at the party’s Liverpool conference serve as a reminder that the centrist grouping doesn’t only rely on rich private donors – it’s also funded by banks and corporations.
Labour Together set up permanent camp with meetings in its own temporary shack inside the conference’s “secure zone”. The majority – 14 out of 19 – of its events were “in partnership” with (aka paid for by) business organisations, enabling lobbyists to meet ministers and often address meetings.
On Sunday, Labour Together’s invite-only drinks reception, with ministers in attendance, was sponsored by Lodestone, the lobbying firm which employs Labour’s former deputy party leader Lord (Tom) Watson and represents controversial Trump-friendly tech firm Palantir (Eyes passim).