As it is silly season the papers are full of the shocking news that people who give wads of cash to political parties get invited to meet politicians. They may even eat and drink with them whilst talking about politics. Labour has a “Chair’s Circle” where donors who part with a minimum of £5,000 join “the highest level of giving within the party“. Donors get to go to dinners with Shadow Cabinet members, VIP events at party conference with the highlight being a “Chair’s Circle welcome reception, hosted by Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Angela Rayner”. Don’t all rush…

UPDATE: Amanda Milling has hit back at Labour. In a letter sent to Anneliese Dodds, Milling highlights Labour’s donor access hypocrisy:

“Indeed in the past year the Labour Party has taken just over £1.2 million from Unite. Due to Labour infighting, this has fallen by over £4.5 million since August 2019.

Over the weekend I read that the Labour Party is now seeking donations from billionaire businessmen, such as Lord Sainsbury and Sir Trevor Chinn.

I would also like to remind you that the Labour Party runs its own Chair Circle Membership group and the Rose Network whose members can pay a fee to get access to Sir Keir Starmer, yourself, and other senior Labour Party Shadow Cabinet members. On your website it states that: “As a Rose Network member, you’ll be invited to a programme of events, including live webinar discussions with key politicians””

She concludes by asking whether Labour would prefer political parties to be funded by taxpayers instead…