Ed Miliband has released a list of all his meetings and dinners with donors and trade union leaders since he became Labour leader on 25 September 2010.
The list shows that of the 44 meetings 21 were with trade union leaders. It shows that in the last 18 months the Labour leader has met with Unite’s Len McCluskey eight times, five times alone, three times with other trade union general secretaries.
Labour have claimed that this disclosure, which includes any donor which has given more than £7,500, demonstrates their “openness and transparency”, adding that “David Cameron should match this by publishing his own list of all meetings and dinners with donors who have given more than £7,500”. At present, the prime minister has only disclosed those donors who have contributed more than £50,000 to the Conservative party.
The decision to publish a more comprehensive list is, of course, commendable. But it fails entirely to address the central issue – which is the question of whether these meetings and dinners indicate that the individuals and organisations concerned are exerting (or are seeking to exert) influence on policy.
To many, “openness and transparency” will seem disingenuous without disclosure of the purpose of these meetings.
Here is the list in full, with representatives from trade unions helpfully indicated:
4 November 2010 – Nigel Doughty
7 December 2010 - John Hannett (USDAW)
15 December 2010 – Dave Prentis (Unison)
5 January 2011 – Len McCluskey (UNITE)
13 January 2011 – Paul Kenny (GMB)
17 January 2011 – Lord Bhattacharyya
2 February 2011 – Henry Tinsley (Betterworld Ltd)
3 February 2011 – Lord Alan Sugar
16 February 2011 – Kevin McGrath
3 March 2011 – Len McCluskey (UNITE), Paul Kenny (GMB), Dave Prentis (Unison)
9 March – Michael Leahy (Community)
24 March 2011 – Nigel Doughty – Breakfast at Ed Miliband’s home
29 March 2011 – Andrew Rosenfeld
29 March 2011 – Graham Jones
29 March 2011 – Lord Waheed Alli (BM Creative Management Ltd)
4 April 2011 –John Hannett (USDAW), Michael Leahy (Community), Len McCluskey (UNITE), Paul Kenny
(GMB), Gerry Doherty (TSSA), Billy Hayes (CWU)– Dinner, House of Commons
26 April 2011 – Paul Kenny (GMB)
16 May 2011 –Len McCluskey (UNITE)
17 May 2011 – Ken Livingstone
20 June 2011 – Len McCluskey (UNITE)
27 June 2011 – John Hannett (USDAW)
28 June 2011 – George Guy (UCATT)
14 July 2011 – George Iacobescu (Canary Wharf plc)
14 July 2011 – Ken Livingstone
22 July 2011 – Andrew Rosenfeld
22 July 2011 – Paul Kenny (GMB)
25 July 2011 – Dave Prentis (Unison)
2 September 2011 – Len McCluskey (UNITE)
6 September 2011 – Nigel Doughty
13 September 2011 – John Hannett (USDAW)
20 September 2011 - Ken Livingstone
27 October 2011 – Andrew Rosenfeld
10 November 2011 – Len McCluskey (UNITE), Paul Kenny (GMB), Dave Prentis (UNISON)
19 November 2011 – Nigel Doughty – Dinner at Ed Miliband’s house
16 December 2011 – Andrew Rosenfeld
20 January 2012 – Andrew Rosenfeld – Dinner at Ed Miliband’s home
6 February 2012 – Len McCluskey (UNITE)
9 February 2012 – Dr Assem Allam
21 February 2012 – Dave Prentis (Unison)
1 March 2012 – Andrew Rosenfeld
7 March 2012 – Michael Leahy (Community)/John Hannett (USDAW)
14 March 2012 – Billy Hayes (CWU)
23 March 2012 - Ken Livingstone – Dinner at Ed Miliband’s home
Comments
Tony / April 14 2012 5:54am
GMB and USDAW committed to an oisnnrgiag rather than servicing model You are having a laugh aren't you? I work in a warehouse, with full recognition rights with Unite, whilst the GMB have dawdled for years at our other DC in the south, and are effectively pinching members money because they refuse to push for recognition, which is the gold standard for trade unions to aim for. And don't even get me started on USDAW! I know a Unite rep at one of the few Tesco sites that have not signed sweetheart deals with USDAW, and he reliably tells me USDAW are effectively in TESCO's pocket due to Tesco bailing them out financially a few years ago when they hit a bit of a crisis. What is the point of being in such a union? You might as well throw your money down the drain.