Labour Leave

Labour Leave
Purpose United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union
Region served
United Kingdom
Key people
 Graham Stringer MP
Kelvin Hopkins MP
Roger Godsiff MP
Kate Hoey MP (resigned February 2016)[1]
Affiliations Vote Leave
Labour Party (UK)
(unofficial)
Website labourleave.org.uk

Labour Leave is a campaign group unofficially within the Labour Party, which campaigned for the United Kingdom to vote to withdraw from the European Union in the 2016 EU Referendum.[2][3] The group was led by eurosceptic Labour MPs: Graham Stringer, Kelvin Hopkins, and Roger Godsiff.[4][5] Kate Hoey was another co chair in the group, until she resigned in February 2016.[1]

As of July 2018, John Mills resigned as chairman of Labour Leave.[6]

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 seventeen strong governing board, only two members (Mills and Stringer) are members of Labour Leave.[7]

In response to this, the idea of a campaign wholly independent of both Vote Leave and Leave.EU had been suggested by Hoey and Hopkins, among others.[7]

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 mostly 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]

Labour Leave continue to raise money from crowdsourcing campaigns and from direct donations from their supporters and members. 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. 1 2 Hughes, Laura (5 February 2016). "Kate Hoey quits Brexit group after leadership row". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  2. ↑ "Labour Leave has no confidence in David Cameron's EU renegotiation". LabourList.
  3. ↑ "Labour Leave".
  4. ↑ "Labour Leave – Board".
  5. ↑ "Vote Leave launches". Vote Leave.
  6. ↑ "Statement: Stepping down from political organisations". John Mills. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
  7. 1 2 James, Luke (5 February 2016). "Labour MPs warn of split as Vote Leave turns right". Morning Star. p. 3. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  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.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.