Westminster Accounts: MPs challenged to provide more transparency over the source of donations
MPs have been accused of failing to provide “sufficient” transparency after a Sky News investigation struggled to uncover basic details about who is behind major donations.
Among the top donors to individual politicians are companies where little detail was provided in the MPs’ declarations about who they are, who is in charge and where they are based.
When asked for comment, some of the MPs concerned were reluctant to discuss the details.
In one case, Sky News discovered that nobody had heard of a company donating hundreds of thousands to Labour MPs when we went to its registered address, while the office of another company that donates to 24 Tory MPs was shut and apparently out of action.
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Responding, the director of the Institute for Government, Hannah White, told Sky News that MPs should be prepared to answer questions about the donations they accept
It follows an investigation as part of the Westminster Accounts that examines two companies ranked in the top 20 list of donors to individual MPs, where the declared donations provide the public with little information as to the true source of the money.
MPM Connect Ltd is the third biggest donor to MPs since the last general election. The only organisations that have given more to individual politicians in that period are the trade union giants Unite and GMB.
However, the company has no staff, no website, and is registered at an office where the secretary says she has never heard of them.
The £345,217 of donations that MPM Connect Ltd has made since the end of 2019 went to just three Labour politicians.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has received a total of £184,317, former mayor of South Yorkshire Dan Jarvis received £100,000 and shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has received £60,900.
Sky News asked each of the MPs to provide an explanation or comment in relation to who was behind the donations and why the money had been given to them.
How did the politicians respond?
Ms Cooper provided a statement which said it was not to be quoted, but her entry in the register of members’ interests states the funding is used to “support my offices”.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting
Mr Streeting said all the donations had been declared in the proper way, and his entry in the register of members’ interests says the money goes “towards staffing costs in my office”.
Mr Jarvis said all his donations support his work as an MP.
MPM Connect Ltd’s entry in the Companies House register lists two directors – recruitment mogul Peter Hearn and Simon Murphy, the entrepreneur behind the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station.
The company’s accounts do not disclose where it receives its funding, what it does, or why it donates so heavily.
When Sky News went to the office in Hertfordshire, where the company is registered, the receptionist in the building denied any knowledge of MPM Connect.
She told Sky News she did not recognise the names of the two directors.
“We’d rather not speak to you,” she said, before closing the door.
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‘You look confused…’
Mr Hearn and MPM Connect were approached for comment, but no response has so far been received.
Electoral Commission records show that over the past 20 years, Peter Hearn has made a number of significant donations to political parties. These have almost all been to the Labour Party, though he made a £10,000 donation to the Conservative campaign for the seat of Poplar and Limehouse ahead of the 2010 general election.
In 2015 he spent £100,000 on Ms Cooper’s unsuccessful campaign for the Labour leadership, and Rushanara Ali’s deputy leadership bid, before turning his attention to Mr Jarvis in a bid to dethrone Jeremy Corbyn and his deputy Tom Watson.
Mr Hearn and MPM Connect were approached for comment, but no response has so far been received.
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How you can explore the Westminster Accounts
IX Wireless donated money to Tory MPs
Another large donor where the public declarations leave ambiguity over the ultimate source of the funding is a little-known broadband provider from Blackburn.
IX Wireless has channelled more than £138,000 of campaign donations to Conservative MPs since 2019, despite only having two staff members, one of whom lives in the United Arab Emirates.
One of those politicians who received money from IX Wireless was Christian Wakeford, who was a Conservative MP at the time before defecting to the Labour Party in January 2022.
Christian Wakeford was a Conservative MP before defecting to Labour in 2022
He told Sky News he had no “understanding or details as to who they were, what they were doing, or what they wanted” when the donation was made.
Mr Wakeford said he had been told by a senior Tory MP and former party chairman, Sir Jake Berry, that there was a block of money from a donor available, and to write an application for the funding.
“We’d put those applications in,” he said, “and we’d find out a month later whether those applications were successful and that the monies were going to our local Conservative association”.
“It was only at that time we were told the money had come from IX Wireless,” Mr Wakeford said. “I’d never heard of them. The first I’d heard of them was the email telling us.”
Mr Wakeford said he now knows more about the company.
Sir Jake Berry was approached for comment but did not respond.
Jake Berry pictured during the Conservative Party annual conference in Birmingham last year
Upon visiting the headquarters of IX Wireless, Sky News found the office empty with flooded floors.
Standing outside of the company’s front door, Sky News called IX Wireless and spoke to someone who said they were a receptionist.
She confirmed that the address was correct, but would not say that she was inside the headquarters. After placing the call on hold for several minutes, she declined to answer any questions.
Founded by entrepreneur Tahir Mohsan in 2017, the company was a successor to Time, a successful British personal computer brand in the 1980s and 1990s.
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In 2005, Mr Mohsan’s computer empire abruptly collapsed with £70m in debts, making as many as 1,500 people redundant.
Thousands of customers had to fight for refunds on products already ordered.
Shortly after the company failed, Mr Mohsan left Britain for Dubai in the UAE.
He has since turned his attention to installing broadband in the North West of England, receiving £675,000 of government funding to roll out high-speed internet in less connected areas of the country.
The company connected 500 premises between August 2018 and June 2020, according to government data seen by Sky News.
IX Wireless and Mr Mohsan did not return repeated requests for comment.
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Why do the Westminster Accounts matter?
Read more:
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Westminster Accounts: Following the money
How to explore the database for yourself
Hannah White, director of the Institute for Government, told Sky News that MPs needed to be more forthcoming about the money they were taking.
“I think there’s a bigger question here… is that transparency actually sufficient?”
Ms White questioned whether it was appropriate for politicians to avoid questions from members of the press and the public over the identities of donors.
“If an MP is asked for more information, should they feel that actually that is something that they’re willing and able to give? Do they actually know the answer to some of these questions if they’ve taken money from a company that they don’t necessarily know how that is funded? I think that’s actually quite important,” she said.
At least 20 people have died after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in Afghanistan, the Taliban has said.
The tremor was recorded near the city of Mazar-e Sharif, in the northern Balkh province, at around 12.59am on Monday (8.29pm in the UK).
The Taliban Health Ministry added that 320 were injured, while ministry spokesperson Sharfat Zaman said that the numbers of dead and injured might rise.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) has issued an orange alert on its system of quake impacts, and suggested that “significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread”.
A rescuer works following an earthquake at an unidentified location in Afghanistan. Pic: Afghan Red Crescent / Reuters
Previous events at that alert level have required a regional or national level response, according to the USGS’s alert system.
Balkh province spokesperson Haji Zaid added that the earthquake destroyed part of the city’s holy shrine, known as the Blue Mosque.
Soldiers dig up debris after an earthquake in Mazar-e Sharif, northern Afghanistan. Pic: Haji Zaid
Damage to the Blue Mosque in Mazar-e Sharif. Pic: Haji Zaid
The United Nations in Afghanistan said on X that it is on the ground assessing needs and delivering aid, and that: “We stand with the affected communities and will provide the necessary support.”
Mazar-e Sharif is the fifth-largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of around 523,000.
Located on two major active fault lines, Afghanistan is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes: More than 1,400 people were killed and at least 3,250 others injured after a magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit the country’s eastern regions in September.
That tremor wiped out villages in the Mazar Dara valley, which Sky’s Asia correspondent Cordelia Lynch visited in October.
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October: Boy recalls being rescued from quake – but losing his brother
In 2015, an earthquake struck northeastern Afghanistan, killing several hundred people in Afghanistan and nearby northern Pakistan.
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Four large earthquakes also struck in the Herat province in 2023, each magnitude 6.3. The Taliban said at the time that at least 2,445 people had died.
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A total of 28 people have died following Hurricane Melissa’s rampage across Jamaica, the government has confirmed.
Melissa, one of the strongest storms on record to make landfall in the Caribbean, brought with it winds of up to 185mph when it hit the island earlier this week.
The Red Cross described it as a “disaster of unprecedented catastrophe”.
Melissa ravaged through Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba.
It weakened by the time it reached Cuba on Wednesday morning but still brought devastation – with houses collapsed and roads blocked.
A statement from the government of Jamaica said it was “deeply saddened to confirm 28 fatalities associated with the passage of Hurricane Melissa”.
It went on: “We extend heartfelt condolences to the families, friends, and communities mourning their loved ones.”
Eyewitness: ‘Send help’ – the desperate pleas from Hurricane Melissa survivors
The confirmation came as the first British repatriation flight was setting off from the island on Saturday evening local time.
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The flight, chartered by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, was for those “unable to leave Jamaica on commercial routes”.
Essential relief supplies are now rolling into some of the hardest hit areas.
Humanitarian aid has arrived and is waiting to be distributed. Pic: AP
The UK government is mobilising an additional £5m in emergency humanitarian funding – on top of £2.5m announced earlier this week – to support the region’s recovery.
This new funding will enable the UK to send humanitarian supplies – including more than 3,000 shelter kits and over 1,500 solar-powered lanterns to help those whose homes have been damaged and those without power.
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Jamaica victims left shell-shocked
The UK is working with the World Food Programme and Red Cross, to ensure emergency relief reaches those who need it most.
At least 25 people died in the southern Haitian coastal town of Petit-Goave after the La Digue river burst its banks as a result of the hurricane, according to the town’s mayor Jean Bertrand Subreme.
Ukrainian soldiers encircled by Russian forces in the key eastern city of Pokrovsk have started surrendering, the defence ministry in Moscow claims.
But Ukraine‘s military has pushed back on the report by the TASS state news agency, saying the situation is “difficult and dynamic”.
Kyiv has also claimed its positions in some districts of Pokrovsk have improved despite its city being infiltrated by Russian troops.
Latest: Russian attacks are ‘nuclear terrorism’, Ukraine warns
Ukraine is increasing its number of assault troops in the area, the 7th Rapid Response Corps said on Facebook.
And Ukrainian troops are also working to cut Moscow’s military logistics routes, it added.
The Russian defence ministry also said its forces defeated a team of Ukrainian special forces that headed to Pokrovsk in a bid to prevent Russian forces from advancing further into the city.
‘Footage of Ukrainian troops after surrendering’
It later posted videos of two Ukrainian troops who, it claimed, had surrendered.
The footage showed the men, one dressed in fatigues and the other in a dark green jacket, sat against a wall in a dark room, as they spoke of fierce fighting and encirclement by Russian forces.
The videos’ authenticity could not be independently verified, and there was no immediate public comment from Kyiv on the Russian ministry’s claims.
Ukrainian police officers on patrol in Pokrovsk. File pic: Reuters
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously acknowledged that some Russian units had infiltrated the city. But he maintained that Ukraine is tackling them.
He said Russia had deployed 170,000 troops in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province, where Pokrovsk is located, in a major offensive to capture the city and claim a big battlefield victory.
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Multiple Russian missiles strike Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia
‘Operation to destroy enemy forces’
Ukraine’s army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Saturday the situation in Pokrovsk remained “hardest” for Ukrainian forces, who were trying to push Russian troops out.
But he insisted there was no encirclement or blockade as Moscow has claimed.
“A comprehensive operation to destroy and push out enemy forces from Pokrovsk is ongoing. The main burden lies on the shoulders of the units of the armed forces of Ukraine, particularly UAV operators and assault units,” Mr Syrskyi said.
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24 hours in the kill zone
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Why is Pokrovsk important?
One of Moscow’s key aims has been to take all of Ukraine’s industrial heartland of coal-rich Donbas, which comprises of the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces. Kyiv still controls about 10% of Donbas.
Capturing Pokrovsk, which Russian media has dubbed “the gateway to Donetsk”, and Kostiantynivka to its northeast, would give Moscow a platform to drive north towards the two biggest remaining Ukrainian-controlled cities in Donetsk – Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
‘Key Russian fuel pipeline struck’
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military intelligence, known as HUR, has said its forces have hit an important fuel pipeline in the Moscow region that supplies the Russian army.
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Dramatic drone rescue in Ukraine’s kill zone
In a statement on Telegram, HUR said the operation late on Friday was a “serious blow” to Russia’s military logistics.
HUR said its forces struck the Koltsevoy pipeline, which is 250 miles long and supplies the Russian army with gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from refineries in Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow.
The operation, which targeted infrastructure near Ramensky district, destroyed all three fuel lines, HUR said.
The pipeline was capable of transporting up to three million tonnes of jet fuel, 2.8 million tonnes of diesel and 1.6 million tonnes of gasoline annually, HUR said.
Russia ‘targets gas production site’
Also overnight, Russia launched an attack on a gas production site in Poltava, in central Ukraine.
A fire broke out, the local administration said, but no injuries were reported.
Kyiv condemns ‘nuclear terrorism’
Ukraine’s foreign ministry has condemned Russian strikes this week on substations powering some of its nuclear plants.
It accused Russia of carrying out “targeted strikes on such substations” which “bear the hallmarks of nuclear terrorism”.
Elsewhere, a civilian died and 15 more were injured on Saturday morning after Russia struck the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine with a ballistic Iskander missile, local official Vitaliy Kim said.
A child was among those hurt in the strike, he added.
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