caltonjock

They way they were

Labour Party rents property To Labour MP’s who recover the cost of said rental from the taxpayer

Expenses scandals just will not go away – Labour Party rents property To Labour MP’s who recover the cost of said rental from the taxpayer – monies received go back to labour, nice one, and we are talking millions annually. The SNP highlighted, in 2001 the hypocrisy of the practice. But Westminster continued with and expanded the activities. Adding insult to the abuse of the taxpayer LLP, the Labour Party company responsible failed to pay any form of tax in the last 8 years.

14 February 1977; Hansard- Westminster Labour Party Properties Ltd.

Mr. Ridley – asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will initiate an inquiry under Section 32 of the Companies Act 1967 into the affairs of Labour Party Properties Ltd.

Mr. Clinton Davis – This is a company limited by guarantee and, in the absence of issued share capital, the directors cannot be in breach of the disclosure provisions of Section 32 of the 1967 Act. There are, therefore, no grounds for such an inquiry.

Mr. Ridley – Is the hon. Gentleman aware that in addition to this problem the company seems to have been appallingly badly managed, leading to possible negligence by the directors? Now that it is insolvent and probably trading illegally, does he not think that he should put aside any party bias and appoint inspectors to see what has gone wrong in this disastrous example of a property flop? Full report here: http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1977/feb/14/labour-party-properties-ltd#column_13

 
9 December 2001; MPs’ rent funds Labour’s £6.5m property company

Expenses claimed by Labour MPs to pay rent on their offices have helped a subsidiary of the party build a property portfolio worth nearly £6.5 million. Labour Party Properties Ltd is wholly owned by the party and is registered at its Millbank headquarters in London. It owns in excess of 20 UK offices that are let to MPs.

Much of the money to buy property comes from Rent paid by the House of Commons fees office or the allowances office of the Scottish Parliament. Labour says no money is transferred from the company to the Labour Party, though there is nothing to prevent it using the funds as collateral, a Millbank spokesman said this was not happening. ‘The assets are not used for securing our overdraft or any other finance,’ he said. LPP manager said the company sold properties, ‘from time to time’, but added that any profit stayed within the company. The company, which had a rental income of £320,000 in 2000, made a loss of £70,000 last year compared with a profit of £42,000 in 1999. This could be down to purchases made.

Mid Lothian Labour MSP Rhona Brankin rents her council-owned constituency office in Dalkeith through LPP, but claims it saves the taxpayer money because it means the rent is cheaper. The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Labour Party, owns the constituency offices of Aberdeen South MP Anne Begg, and Kilmarnock and Loudoun MP Des Browne. It is selling a property in West Bromwich, valued at the end of last year at £84,000 – up £20,000 since December 1999.

An SNP Spokesman said, ‘This is quite unacceptable. The reality is that purchase of property for profit by the Labour Party is being done using public funds. It has happened in individual constituencies from time to time, but this is a national scheme which has been going on for years and nobody knew anything.’ http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/dec/09/scotland.devolution

22 August 2013; Labour’s property firm paid no tax for eight years

LLP, a property company run by the Labour Party has paid no tax in eight years, despite earning millions of pounds in rental revenues.The company last paid tax in 2003, when its bill was £22,000. It recorded profits in 2006 and 2009, but did not pay any tax in those years thanks to carried-forward losses.

Experts said the administration costs appeared to be unusually high and said that a property portfolio of that size, if operated on commercial terms, could normally be expected to make a return of around 3-4 per cent a year. Last year’s administrative expenses of £305,000 included a £36,000 administration charge to the Labour Party, £37,000 in staffing costs, £2,000 of auditor’s costs and £100,000 in other ‘legal and professional’ charges. The company also paid £70,000 in interest on a £3.5m loan from the Labour Party.

“Someone is making some fat money out of them. These are high, high costs,” said one commercial mortgage broker who reviewed the accounts. A tax accountant added: “The administrative expenses look very high for the rental income. That is the reason they have not been paying any tax, because the rental income does not cover the costs.”. A Labour Party spokesman declined to say why it did not cut its administrative costs. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/10260728/Labours-property-firm-paid-no-tax-for-eight-years.html

 
23 August 2013; HMRC asked to investigate expenses that gave Labour firm eight taxless years

Charlie Elphicke, a former tax lawyer, has written to HMRC to ask whether it will open an investigation into Labour Party Properties Ltd (LPPL), a property investment firm wholly owned by the party which operates a £6.3m rental portfolio. Yesterday the Daily Telegraph revealed the firm, whose directors include Iain McNicol, Labour’s General Secretary, received £8.7m in rents between 2004 and 2011 but paid no corporation tax after reporting a string of losses.

In the two years where the company made a profit, carried-over losses meant it paid no tax. It last paid tax in 2003. The Labour Party insisted the firm had done nothing to intentionally cut its tax bill. Ed Miliband has frequently attacked corporate giants including Starbucks and Google who are accused of failing to pay their full share of tax through artificial structures.

Mr Elphicke, the MP for Dover and Deal, has asked Lin Homer, the chief executive of HRMC, to investigate a series of “administration expenses” that wiped out the company’s profit. Last year the company earned £1.19m in rental income. Property expenses came to £1.14m leaving a gross profit of £49,000. But administrative expenses of £305,000 meant the company recorded a loss of £256,000. As a result, it paid no tax. Those charges included a £36,000 ‘administration charge’ to the Labour Party, £70,000 interest on a £3.5m loan from the Labour Party, £100,000 in legal and professional charges, £2,000 auditing fees and £37,000 in staffing costs.

Experts said those costs appeared “very high” for a company of this size, which under normal circumstances should create a profit of 3 to 4 per cent a year. In a letter sent this afternoon Mr Elphicke said: “The level of tax avoidance by multinational enterprises and big businesses is a deep concern to me. Having reviewed the Labour Party Properties Ltd accounts a number of issues have arisen which I believe HMRC should investigate.” “The administrative costs were why no tax had to be paid. In view of this, has HMRC verified that the costs are appropriate and justifiable?”

He added: “While I understand that the normal procedure is for companies to file their accounts on trust, after auditing. However I believe HMRC have the power to make enquiries and investigate where expenses are claimed that throw up anomalies. Can you therefore let me know whether HMRC has undertaken an investigation and, if not, whether it now will to ensure that this company has paid its fair share of taxes.” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/10263347/HMRC-asked-to-investigate-expenses-that-gave-Labour-firm-eight-taxless-years.html

14 November 2013; Re-Renting Name and Shame: 62 Labour Re-Renters

Rushanara Ali: Tower Hamlets Labour Party
Adrian Bailey: Labour Party Properties Ltd
Hugh Bayley: City of York Constituency Labour Party
Tom Blenkinsop: Guisborough Labour Party
Ben Bradshaw: Exeter Labour Party
Lyn Brown: West Ham Constituency Labour Party
Russell Brown: Labour Party Properties Ltd
Chris Bryant: Rhondda Labour Party
Karen Buck: Westminster North Constituency Labour Party
Ronnie Campbell: Blyth Valley Constituency Labour Party
Martin Caton: Gower Constituency Labour Party
Michael Connarty: Linithgow and East Falkirk Labour Party
Rosie Cooper: West Lancashire Constituency Labour Party
Mary Creagh: Labour Party Properties Ltd
Stella Creasy: Walthamstow Constituency Labour Party
Nic Dakin: Labour Party Properties Ltd
Geraint Davies: Swansea West Labour Party
John Denham: Labour Party Properties Ltd
Brian Donohoe: Ayrshire Central Labour Party
Jim Dowd: Lewisham West & Penge Labour Party
Clive Efford: Eltham Labour Party
Paul Farrelly: Newcastle-under-Lyme Labour Party
Mike Gapes: Labour Hall Ilford Ltd
Helen Goodman: Bishop Auckland Labour Party
Peter Hain: Neath Constituency Labour Party
Fabian Hamilton: Leeds North East Labour Party
Kelvin Hopkins: Luton Labour Parties
Cathy Jamieson: Labour Party Properties Ltd
Graham Jones: Hyndburn Constituency Labour Party
Tessa Jowell: Dulwich and West Norwood Labour Party
Alan Keen: Feltham and Heston Labour Party
Liz Kendall: Leicester West Labour Party
Sadiq Khan: Tooting Labour Party
Ian Lavery: Wansbeck Constituency Labour Party
Andrew Love: Edmonton Labour Party Trust
Fiona Mactaggart: Slough Labour Memorial Hall Ltd
Seema Malhotra: Feltham and Heston Labour Party
Kerry McCarthy: Labour Party Properties Ltd
Siobhain McDonagh: Merton and Morden Labour Halls Ltd
John McDonnell: Hayes Labour Hall
Ann McGuire: Labour Party Properties Ltd
Fiona O’Donnell: East Lothian Labour Party
Albert Owen: Ynys Mon Constituency Labour Party
Teresa Pearce: Erith & Thamesmead Labour Party
Toby Perkins: Chesterfield Labour Club
Dawn Primarolo: Bristol South Labour Party
Yasmin Qureshi: Bolton District Labour Party
Nick Raynsford: Greenwich and Woolwich Labour Party
Chris Ruane: Labour Party Properties Ltd
Gavin Shuker: Luton Labour Properties Ltd
Andy Slaughter: Hammersmith Labour Party
Nick Smith: Blaenau Gwent Labour Party
John Spellar: Brandhall Labour Club Ltd
Gareth Thomas: Harrow West Labour Party
Emily Thornberry: Islington South Labour Party
Karl Turner: East Hull Labour Party
Tom Watson: Labour Party Properties Ltd
Alan Whitehead: Labour Party Properties Ltd
Rosie Winterton: Doncaster Labour Club
Mike Wood: Spenborough Labour Parties
John Woodcock: Barrow and Furness Labour Party
Iain Wright: Hartlepool Labour Party

12 funnel taxpayer cash to the imaginatively-named “Labour Party Properties Ltd” http://order-order.com/2013/11/14/re-renting-name-and-shame-62-labour-re-renters/