Labour Leave

Labour Leave
Founders John Mills
Purpose United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union
Region served
United Kingdom
Key people
 Kate Hoey MP
Graham Stringer MP
Kelvin Hopkins MP
Roger Godsiff MP
John Mills
Affiliations Vote Leave
Labour Party (UK)
(unofficial)
Website labourleave.org

Labour Leave is a campaign group unofficially within the British Labour Party, which has campaigned successfully for the United Kingdom to vote to leave the European Union (EU) in the 2016 EU referendum.[1][2] The group is led by eurosceptic Labour MPs Kate Hoey, Graham Stringer, Kelvin Hopkins, and Roger Godsiff,[3] and is chaired by the largest individual donor[4] to the Labour Party, John Mills,[5] former chair of the cross-party Vote Leave campaign,[6] which the group supports.[7]

Position within Vote Leave

The organisation's position within the Vote Leave campaign has been seen as precarious, a source close to the campaign told The Morning Star, due to a perceived domination of the Vote Leave campaign by Conservative and UKIP officials. Of Vote Leave's 17-strong governing board, only two members (Mills and Stringer) are members of Labour Leave.[6] In response to this, the idea of a wholly independent campaign to Vote Leave and Leave.EU had been suggested, with MPs such as Hoey and Hopkins favouring the idea.[6]

Funding for the group

Adam Barnett on the left-wing political blog Left Foot Forward wrote that Labour Leave's "two biggest funders Conservative Party donors, and its third biggest funder the official Brexit campaign group Vote Leave".[8] The Electoral Commission shows Labour Leave received £15,000 from the majority-Conservative Vote Leave in February. Labour Leave also received £50,000 from Jeremy Hosking,[9] a donor to the Conservative Party who has given the Conservatives £569,100 as of June 2016. Hosking donated £100,000 to the Conservative Party in April 2015 and donated £50,000 in March 2016 (the same month he gave £50,000 to Labour Leave). Labour Leave took a further £150,000 in May from Richard Smith, believed to be the owner of 55 Tufton Street in Westminster (home of several right-wing groups).[8]

Barnett attributes this collaboration between opposing political organisations to a desire by the Conservatives to split the Labour EU referendum vote,[8] as it has been alleged that Labour members are unsure of their party's position on Brexit.[8][10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Labour Leave has no confidence in David Cameron's EU renegotiation". LabourList - Labour's biggest independent grassroots e-network.
  2. ↑ "Labour Leave".
  3. ↑ "Labour Leave – Board".
  4. ↑ "Rich, private school, Oxford. Meet John Mills, Labour's biggest donor". Telegraph.co.uk. 15 September 2013.
  5. ↑ John Mills. "John Mills: Why top Labour donor is backing calls for a Brexit from the EU". International Business Times UK.
  6. 1 2 3 James, Luke (5 February 2016). "Labour MPs warn of split as Vote Leave turns right". The Morning Star. p. 3. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  7. ↑ "Vote Leave launches". Vote Leave.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Barnett, Adam (1 June 2016). "Labour Leave is funded by Tory donors and Vote Leave, not 'Labour and trade unions'". Left Foot Forward. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  9. ↑ "Search - The Electoral Commission". search.electoralcommission.org.uk.
  10. ↑ Mason, Rowena (30 May 2016). "Labour voters in the dark about party's stance on Brexit, research says". the Guardian. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
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