Labour Leave
 | This article needs to be updated. (June 2016) |
 | |
| 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 |
| Part of a series of articles on |
| UK membership of the European Union (1973–2020) |
|---|
 |
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
- ^ "Labour Leave has no confidence in David Cameron's EU renegotiation". LabourList - Labour's biggest independent grassroots e-network.
- ^ "Labour Leave".
- ^ "Labour Leave – Board".
- ^ "Rich, private school, Oxford. Meet John Mills, Labour's biggest donor". Telegraph.co.uk. 15 September 2013.
- ^ John Mills. "John Mills: Why top Labour donor is backing calls for a Brexit from the EU". International Business Times UK.
- ^ a b c James, Luke (5 February 2016). "Labour MPs warn of split as Vote Leave turns right". The Morning Star. p. 3. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- ^ "Vote Leave launches". Vote Leave.
- ^ a b c d 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.
- ^ "Search - The Electoral Commission". search.electoralcommission.org.uk.
- ^ Mason, Rowena (30 May 2016). "Labour voters in the dark about party's stance on Brexit, research says". the Guardian. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
External links
- Lexit The Movie
- Labour Leave has no confidence in David Cameron's EU renegotiation
- John Mills: Why top Labour donor is backing calls for a Brexit from the EU
- Vote Leave launches
- Nigel Griffiths in EU exit stunt ahead of Gordon Brown speech
