SCOTTISH Labour accepting money from businesses which are bankrolling the Tories shows the party have “learned nothing” from the party’s plummeting support following the 2014 independence referendum campaign, according to the SNP.
Global gas generator firm Peak Scientific has donated £200,000 each to Scottish Labour and the Scottish Liberal Democrats, it emerged last week.
The firm, headquartered in Inchinnan, said it had made political donations to a number of parties over the years. According to Electoral Commission records, Peak Scientific and its parent firm Dusty TLP Limited have given funding totalling around £1.3 million since 2014.
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Nearly 70% of that total – £948,000 – was made up of donations to the UK Conservative party.
Other sums have gone to East Renfrewshire Conservatives, former Tory leader Jackson Carlaw, the Better Together campaign, and organisation SB Supports the Union. The Liberal Democrats in Scotland have also received other donations amounting to nearly £200,000.
Prior to the latest donation, Scottish Labour also received £15,000 from Peak Scientific in September 2014, while the UK Labour Party received £100,000 from Dusty TLP Limited in March last year.
SNP MSP Paul McLennan, inset, said it was “baffling” that Scottish Labour continued to accept money from Tory donors while supporters continue to “flee the sinking ship”.
He said: “While Scottish Labour leaders are no strangers to gross errors of judgment, it remains baffling that they so consistently ignore the harsh lessons of their spectacular fall from grace.
“During the 2014 referendum campaign, prominent Labour figures revelled in spending money from Tory donors. That didn’t end well for them.”
He went on: “Scottish Labour went on to lose tens of thousands of votes and was all but wiped from the electoral map in the 2015 General Election.
“And Anas Sarwar recorded the party’s worst ever result in a Scottish Parliament election last May.
“Yet these dire consequences have not stopped them gleefully accepting more money from businesses which have ploughed fortunes into bankrolling the Tories.”
He added: “Scottish Labour has clearly learned nothing and can only blame itself while supporters continue to flee the sinking ship.”
News of the £400,000 donations to Scottish Labour and the Scottish Liberal Democrats emerged last Monday.
At the time, a spokesman for Peak Scientific said: “We have made political donations to a number of parties over the years.
“We feel it is important that current opposition parties are well funded so they can positively communicate their plans for improving public services in Scotland by maximising the potential of the powers devolved to the Scottish Parliament.”
On the same day the news of the donation emerged, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton visited the firm’s premises.
He tweeted: “Fascinating visit to Fascinating visit to @PeakScientific in Inchinnan this afternoon, a real Scottish success story in manufacturing.
“Their world leading Laboratory gas generators are driving progress and innovation all over the globe.”
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Peak Scientific’s factory was also visited by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in August 2020, with the firm donating £250,000 to the Tory party the following week.
Reports last month suggested Labour and the LibDems are planning an informal pact at the next General Election in a bid to topple the Tories.
This would mean Labour would only fight a minimal campaign in most of the Lib Dems top target seats, and focus on “red wall” seats in the North and Midlands.
Scottish Labour did not respond to the Sunday National’s request for comment by the time the paper went to print.
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