South Shields MP Emma Lewell-Buck today called on the Prime Minister to explain the Tories’ links with its millionaire donors.
Speaking in a packed House of Commons at Prime Minister’s Questions today, Emma asked David Cameron: “How many of the Conservative Party’s millionaire donors asked the Prime Minister to cut the 50p top rate of tax?”
The Prime Minister did not answer the question, choosing instead to attack Labour’s relationship with working people through its trade union affiliates.
Yet in a recent survey 56% of people said they had concerns about the Tories’ links with donors. 43 of the top 50 political donations in 2012 went to the Conservative Party, while nearly a quarter of the Sunday Times Rich List – which ranks the top 1,000 wealthiest people in Britain – have donated to the party since 2001. The biggest single donation last year was £1.3 million.
Emma said:
“At a time when his Government’s attack on working people has seen public services slashed, millions pushed into poverty, and rising long-term unemployment, David Cameron has given a tax break to the richest people in the UK – the same people that fund his party.
“This is a real scandal, and it is no surprise that the Prime Minister did not want to give me an answer when I questioned him today.”