A top Labour lawyer advised Keir Starmer‘s chief of staff to describe £740,000 in ‘hidden’ donations as an ‘admin error’, a leaked email reveals.
The crisis engulfing Morgan McSweeney deepened after the bombshell email shed new light on a notorious episode in which his think-tank was fined in 2021 for 20 breaches of electoral law involving undeclared donations.
The email from the lawyer advised Mr McSweeney to drop his unsubstantiated claim that he had been told donations totalling £739,492 to Labour Together did not have to be declared. It warned him that unless he could back up the claim with evidence, it risked antagonising the Electoral Commission, which was investigating the scandal.
It told him instead to try to pass the episode off as a simple ‘admin error’.
The email, seen by the Daily Mail, was published in full on Tuesday night by the Conservatives, who stepped up calls for the police to investigate the affair.
Tory Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: ‘The evidence is clear – Morgan McSweeney has been caught red-handed hiding hundreds of thousands of pounds which helped install Keir Starmer as Labour leader.
‘This latest scandal at the very heart of government is incredibly serious – and potentially criminal – yet Keir Starmer has expressed his full confidence in his chief of staff, once again demonstrating his poor judgment and raising serious questions about his integrity and honesty.
Hellbound and Down 