The Electoral Commission is considering an investigation into Labour over “indirect funding” from the EU through a £30,000 donation to an affiliated organisation.
The watchdog has expressed “potential regulatory concern” regarding funds given to the Labour-linked Fabian Society by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), a branch of the Party of European Socialists.
The scrutiny comes after the EU’s own authority fined FEPS last week for what it called “indirect funding of the UK Labour Party”.
An Electoral Commission spokesman said they were “considering this information regarding the Fabian Society, as of potential regulatory concern in accordance with our Enforcement Policy”.
Sir Keir Starmer
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The EU’s Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations imposed a £30,000 fine against FEPS on Monday for breaching regulations.
The donation was used to fund a conference and book launch event in January 2023, which was attended by Labour politicians.
Under Electoral Commission rules, donations over £500 to members associations must come from “permissible sources”.
Political foundations receiving EU funding are prohibited from donating to any party’s electioneering funds.
Associations must report donations exceeding £11,180 to the Commission.
The Fabian Society maintains close ties to the Labour Party as an affiliated organisation, with its membership largely consisting of Labour members.
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The society prominently states on its website that “we are affiliated to the Labour Party and work very closely with Labour politicians”.
It also highlights that “every Labour Prime Minister has been a Fabian and today 100s of Labour politicians are members of the society, including Labour leader Keir Starmer MP”.
Conservative Party co-chairman Nigel Huddleston MP condemned the funding arrangement.
“Brexit was a liberating moment for this country, and to see Labour groups taking wads of cash from EU groups is simply scandalous,” he said.
Huddleston added: “The British public demanded we no longer kowtow to Brussels diktats, and will rightly be shocked.”
The Droitwich & Evesham MP also called on Labour to reject any future EU-linked funding.
“If Labour are serious about Brexit, and are not planning to undo the progress made to further our country’s independence from Brussels, they must commit to taking no further funding from this group,” he stated.
FEPS has accepted the fine but defended its actions as legitimate.
A FEPS spokesman said: “As a political foundation, FEPS cannot be expected to be non-political, and it is certainly within the remit of FEPS’s mission to provide advice, guidance and input for social-democratic policymakers and organisations.”
The EU watchdog said it had fined FEPS “because of indirect funding of the UK Labour Party and because of exceeding the task limitations set for European political foundations”.
GB News has approached the Labour Party for comment.
