It’s rather embarassing for the Ipswich Labour Party that they get more from their MP’s office allowance than they do from their members, but both these sums come to less than 10% each of their income.
The vast bulk of their income comes from a more surprising source, and that’s gambling. And not any old gambling, but week in, week out doorstep gambling. In 2008 £56,926 of their total income of £79,238 came from “fundraising” (around three quarters of their total income) and this is how they describe it:
8. Fundraising
The Unit runs a number of fundraising activities, these include:
- “100″ Club – a monthly draw;
- Red Rose Labour Tote – a weekly lottery collected door-to-door and registered with Ipswich Borough Council;
- Norfolk Labour Tote – a weekly lottery operating in Norfolk, managed by Ipswich CLP
- Instant bingo tickets – sold door-to-door, a co-operative venture with other local CLPs;
- “SWELL” lottery cards – a national fundraising scheme administered locally;
- Raffles and draws at political meetings and social functions.
This is not dinners and coffee mornings, “social events” were seperately listed and raised £1,664 in that time (this is appallingly low for a party with 264 members, but I digress). If they are raising funds only from their committed supporters then they really should be looking at raising their subscriptions (£2,091) and donations (£4,375) which don’t need to give out prizes. In fact, as is obvious from above this operation reaches out into the rest of Suffolk and Norfolk, and very possibly Essex as well through the “Instant bingo” tickets.
A couple of interesting facts that other people may want to follow up, do they employ people to collect the gambling stakes or is it their activists who do this? Do Labour councillors declare their interest whenever lottery licensing is discussed? I’m sure there are other questions. Let’s be clear this is preferable to being funded by that public school former Communist Charlie Whelan’s Unite Union, as I’m sure that Comrade Chris Mole (Dulwich) shares my aversion to expensively educated ex-Marxists. In fact there’s a lot to admire in the entrepreneurial nature of the whole enterprise.
The Ipswich Constituency Labour Party is in fact a door-to-door gambling operation with a couple of councillors attached.
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