Donations to not-so-green Conservatives


The Tories have received £1.5 million in funding from polluting industries and climate-denial funders since the general election, official data has revealed.


Figures published by the Electoral Commission and in the Register of MPs' Interests show a string of donations to the party from anti-environment groups in the last three months, the Morning Star newspaper has revealed.


Under-fire home secretary Priti Patel is among the Tory politicians who have benefited. She received £21,000 from backers of the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), a lobby group which works to mitigate policies against climate change.


Other gifts were given to the Conservative Party as a whole, which received £1.4 million in donations from heavy-machinery firm JCB. 


Meanwhile, London City Airport has also contributed to the Tories in the past three months, handing £12,500 to the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs.


Labour MP Dr Alan Whitehead said: “News that the Conservative Party is funded by fossil-fuel interests raises worrying questions about Tory sincerity on net-zero and the green economy.


“Businesses rarely hand over money for no reason. The question for the Conservative Party is: what have these companies bought?”


https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/tories-have-taken-%C2%A31-point-5m-in-donations-from-polluters-and-climate-denialists