He also draws attention to comments attributed to Haltwhistle business chief, Gary Lydiate, who has given more than £200,000 who was on the same trip who said: "When you're travelling with a high-level delegation led by the prime minister, you get to see the right decision-makers."

Labour MP slams Northern Tory donor ‘cash for access claims’

‘MP backs Labour leader quest to clean up politics’

From Ronnie Campbell MP

Labour MP Ronnie Campbell has attacked what he called ‘Tory smears’ over labour’s links with trade unions and focussed attention on Tory ‘cash for access’ donations.

Mr Campbell said

‘The sheer cheek of the Tories knows no bounds. Cameron and his cronies have tried to make political capital over trade union funding of Labour – while dipping their own snouts into a slush bucket topped up by millionaires, vested interests, dodgy entrepreneurs and big business.’

The MP claims that the Tory party links to outside interests are there for the public to see as David Cameron met several key donors on his recent visit of Kazakhstan including the chief executive of UK oil and gas firm Petrofac, who has given the Tories nearly £300,000 in the past three years.

He also draws attention to comments attributed to Haltwhistle business chief, Gary Lydiate, who has given more than £200,000 who was on the same trip who said: "When you're travelling with a high-level delegation led by the prime minister, you get to see the right decision-makers."

Mr Campbell went on to say

‘Maybe Tory links to big business might explains the government’s latest U-turns on tobacco packaging and alcohol pricing. Both industries have strong Tory connections and have a voice at Cameron’s top table.’

Labour claim that this amounts to influence which can be seen in government policy. In 2006 Cameron opened a factory in India for JCB. Company chairman, Sir Anthony Bamford also joined Cameron on a subsequent trade mission to India along with representatives of textiles firm J&H Sales, which has given the Tories almost £200,000 since 2010.

Mr Campbell said

‘The Tory claim that the unions “own” the Labour party – which after all grew from the trade union movement – is pretty rich from a party owned by millionaires.

I’m proud that Labour retains its links with ordinary working people. The Tories are bankrolled by the rich and infamous whose top priority is to keep the workers at the bottom of the pile’.

 Notes for Editors

1.       Since 2010 they have poured £45 million into Conservative coffers – and that’s just the ones we know about.

2.       Company and individual business donations make up just 3 per cent of donations to Labour and the vast majority of those to the Conservatives.

3.       Individual donations to the Tory Party account for £27.9m. It has been given 1,398 since the election (Labour has clocked up 230).

4.       Donors who drop more than £50,000 are invited into The Leader’s Group – and get to meet David Cameron and other senior Tories at dinners, lunches and drinks parties.

5.       61 people have made a one-off donation– but the party has received a further 141 donations of more than £50,000 – with people donating two, three, four or more times.

6.       The biggest individual donor is Michael Farmer – who has made eight donations totalling £2,191,392.42. He founded the hedge fund RK Capital Management and made his fortune in the international metal markets.

7.       Then comes property multi-millionaire David Rowland who made a one-off donation of £1,277,936.32.

8.       Then there’s May Makhzoumi – the wife of the billionaire Fouad Makhzoumi who was at the centre of the Jonathan Aitken arms scandal – who has donated £908,000.

9.       And then there are former Tory treasurer Peter Cruddas, South African born mining magnate Michael Davis and former Man Group hedge fund boss Stanley Fink – who have donated £723,000, £712,000 and £692,841 respectively.

10.   The biggest company donor by far is JCB Research – which has donated a total £1.4m since the election. Others include mobile phone group Lycamobile with £343,442 and city investment group Flowidea with £315,950.

11.   Others who have enjoyed access to the PM the staffs of a Bestways Cash and Carry, who were treated to a Q&A with the Tory leader in 2010. Their employer has given more than £200,000 to the Tories in the past three years.

12.   Midland Chilled Foods gave the Tories £10,000 in February this year. The company is owned by Peter Shirley, a member of the Midlands Industrial Council which has funnelled hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Tories and whose backers include Chris Kelly, whose company, Keltruck, is a global distributor for Scania lorries.

13.   A recent poll showed more people (56%) are concerned about Tory links to donors than they are with Labour's to the unions (48%). YouGov