Lord Waheed Alli, the Labour Party megadonor at the centre of the donations scandal, has been found to have violated House of Lords rules regarding declaring interests.
Lord Alli, who was elevated to become a peer of the realm by Tony Blair, committed four breaches of the upper chamber of the British Parliament’s code of conduct, according to a House of Lords commissioner for standards investigation over conflicts of interest that might influence parliamentary actions.
“While I consider each individual breach of the Code to be minor, I have found there to be four breaches in total, and have therefore recommended that Lord Alli write a letter of apology to the Chair of the Conduct Committee, Baroness Manningham-Buller,” the report said per The Telegraph.
The breaches included failing to disclose that he serves as a “person with significant control” of Silvergate BP Bidco Limited and as an unremunerated director of The Charlie Parsons Foundation.
Meanwhile, Lord Alli was also found to have breached the code of conduct by failing to register in time his interest as a director of the MAC (BVI) Limited firm.
Admitting fault, Lord Alli said in a letter of apology: “I am writing to you today to offer my apology for my breach of conduct by not registering my interests correctly.
“I will endeavour to keep to the code of conduct at all times to avoid such circumstances again.”
The case is separate from the ongoing scandal surrounding so-called “freebies” gifts given to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and senior members of his cabinet.
Lord Alli, one of the left-wing Labour Party’s top donors, has reportedly given Prime Minister Starmer the equivalent of £134,000 in hospitality and gifts since 2019, making him the largest personal donor to the now-Prime Minister.
This year alone, the Trinidadian-Guyanese heritage media mogul gave Stamer some £19,000 for “work clothes” and designer glasses. Additionally, the Labour Party leader was given use of Lord Alli’s £18 million Central London penthouse and his £4 million Soho townhouse.
Questions arose over the lavish gifts given to the left-wing politicians — while the country struggled economically — given that Lord Alli was given a special pass for Downing Street despite having no formal role in the government. Starmer, his cabinet, and Lord Alli have denied any wrongdoing.
