For £15,000 plus VAT, companies were told they would get an opportunity to give a keynote speech, photographs with the business secretary and others, and a dedicated member of Labour party staff to help make introductions. For £30,000 they would also get to help decide who would attend.
In the pitch, Labour called the offer a “unique opportunity to become a commercial partner at our business policy round-table over breakfast”.
Businesses regularly sponsor political events as a way to get close to senior party figures, though the sums being charged for the Labour business breakfast were relatively high.
Both Labour and the Conservatives hosted business days at their recent party conferences, where executives could pay about £3,000 to watch speeches by senior party figures. As part of the programme, both parties promised “networking opportunities” with ministers or shadow ministers to those who paid for tickets.
Starmer, meanwhile, is working on new guidelines for accepting donations, having himself handed back £6,000-worth of gifts and hospitality that he and his wife accepted in recent weeks. That included retrospectively paying for free Taylor Swift tickets he was given and for a clothing rental agreement for his wife.
Miliband said on Friday that the prime minister’s decision to repay the money sent a “signal” to others, and was a “prelude” to the forthcoming guidelines.
