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Exclusive: near-bankrupt Labour HQ mounts ‘property grab’ from local parties

Labour sends out email to local party officers requiring update all properties owned

A former Labour property in Bath

Keir Starmer’s Labour party has been accused by local members of mounting a ‘property grab’ to shore up its collapsing finances, after an email went out to local party officers demanding an update of any properties held by constituency parties (CLPs).

The email requires the details of any such properties – and their estimated value:

In 2012 under Ed Miliband the party pushed through a rule change making it a requirement of affiliation for any CLPs owning property on behalf of their local members to hand over the title of those properties to the party. CLPs were told that they would be kicked out of the party if they refused.

In byzantine convoluted wording, Labour claimed that the ‘beneficial ownership’ of the properties would stay with local parties even though the actual ownership of the title would now be in the hands of the party.

Now it seems that Labour, whose financial collapse under Keir Starmer and David Evans has brought the party to the verge of bankruptcy, wants an updated list of what it might flog off.

Labour officers and members have contacted Skwawkbox to express their fears of a party ‘property grab’. One told Skwawkbox:

Our CLP were hoping to sell their building as it was full of dry rot, but we’ve been told [the central party title] was in a cast iron contract . It’s like you own the property but not the collateral that belongs to Labour. What becomes of our cash if they sell?

Another said:

This is a money grab from Southside and local parties need to be on the alert.

Some CLP properties have been purchased out of funds raised by members for the purpose. Others have been given as, or purchased with funds given as, a bequest from local members or wellwishers who died. Now it seems Labour is looking for what it can expropriate from local parties and sell to stave off a collapse induced by Starmer’s dire leadership and mismanagement by right-wing staff.

A collapse that looked a million miles away when Labour’s finances were thriving under Jeremy Corbyn and the party’s mass membership that has now plummeted because of Starmer’s lurch to the right, his lack of vision, his war on members and eagerness to prop up the Tories.

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59 comments

  1. Quite understandable, after all, there won’t be a Labour party soon so might as well get shot of all those excess properties while the markets still on the up.

    1. Membership went down by 15% during 2018&19 and by Nov19 the membership had dropped to 430,359 fully paid up members. What is it now?

      1. No-one is being told that, but as it took two family members over a year to become non-members after their oft-repeated resignations and cancellation of DDs, any guess is as good a guess as any other. I’d guess about 200,000 max. Don’t tell me you know, because you don’t. And as I have shown, you’d first of all have to define what you meant by “member.” Someone not paying and having resigned many months ago would be defined as “not a member” by anyone other than the Labour Party.

      2. Joe – Thanks for your input but if you re-read my comment you will note that I have been very specific. The above figure of 430k refers to fully paid up members entitled to vote in internal elections at the time..

      3. goldbach – It’s not my fault that you find the truth inconvenient.

      4. lundiel – So according to the trusted Murdock press the membership numbers are down to roughly the same number they were prior to the 19GE.

      5. you’re behaving like robber barons SH..,but then again a party that has a knight of the realm can expect anything although I did mention this on a number of occasions including taking back control.of the CLPs….Change the locks and throw out any collaborators and lets just see who controls the Labour party.Open the doors to the hungry and get the local press involved.ITs not just hot air I dealt with this before when the Labour party tryed to steal our assets.Sub let half the property to a non party member.Dont roll over and check the freehold,leasehold properties and it is obvious that many have covenants attatched.ITs worth the fight against tyranny because thats what this is.and you might just win.This can last for years which the Labour party can’t afford with the banks on their backs.You know the drill cancell D\Ds and watch the parasites infesting the Labour party die.Dont involve Lawyers thats a must.

      6. NO. According to the NEC who’ve been very coy about the membership in order to try and plug the massively obvious leak of members. You and a few Gaslighting centrist Blair fans are the only people who won’t see the patently obvious.
        https://www-thelondoneconomic-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/labour-shedding-250-members-a-day-nec-282931/amp/?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#aoh=16349192103734&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelondoneconomic.com%2Fpolitics%2Flabour-shedding-250-members-a-day-nec-282931%2F
        It’s a bit rich you coming the old ‘Murdoch press’ on here. Starmer is a contributor and big fan.

      7. Oh and don’t tell me I could have shortened the link, I know and chose not just to annoy you. 💩💩💩

    2. My gut instinct is to Ocuppy the properys,check ✔if leashold or freehold and if there are restrictive covenents attached to the deeds that can be found online.Take back control invite the local press and feed the hungry from the premises.Swop the locks and throw out any collaborators.Rent part of the offices especially if theres a long term renter then youre quids in.This could stall the Labour party for months and months…Whatever you do don’t involve Lawyers.ITs not hot air I have done it before in my old constituency when the Robber barons tried to half inch our assets.I was one of the first to take on the Gangster landlords in Brighton with the help from a unusual liberal councillor and forced the landlords to hand over the leases on flats to our residents limited companys.Half a dozen prime property on the sea front we purchased for buttons.IT can be done and all it takes is nominal common sense.IF you drag it out for the Labour party robber barons you might just bankrupt them and keep some of the property.Give it a whirl whats to loose they will raise money using another lawyer chum and keep a select few on leasehold and a big cash winnings on the redundent property.Do not invite a lawyer into this dispute.

      1. I often wonder what happened to the CPGBs property. This is the right path to take but be careful. They won’t balk at using state agents to steal your property. Act wisely, that Headroom and Handy Mandy will have a plan for this. I don’t know the law about this but comrades did use squatting as a tactic, unsuccessfully. Financial battles will be very costly for both sides and it does take bottle. JVL and other clever comrades could do some permanent damage to the bureaucracy.

  2. The next update required will be to find out how many halfpennies the LP has got as they may need a couple to rub together.

    1. Syzygysue….Yes you used to have a shop CLP in Lewes as I remember when I asked for help from the CLP using a motion to stop the pope burning fiasco and festooning the shoping centre with No popery here signs you lot in Lewes CLP decided it was tradition and just a bit of fun.My family were targeted by Kyle paisley and the UVF who looked upon Lewes in Sussex as a safe haven and holiday home for the Paisley family and their Jirahah chapel red necks..AT that time I needed support from the Labour party and got cowardice..I hope your CLP burns down in the next festival of hate….just a bit of Sussex culture the coppers said when I fought of an attack on my place in Newick nr lewes and then they arrested me for GBH on idiots that broke through a Security fence and locked gates with cameras.My response was a man protecting his family yours in the CLP was cowardly.Comrades.PS the judge luckily decided I had no case to answer.and although I have since had a change of heart Blunkett and Blair were Brilliant in responding and advising and realised the poweful people I was up against.and they were actually Home Secretary and PM at the time……maybe parliament corrupts..I will never forget the bravery of my Alsation Dog that fought like a Wolf and saved our necks..He finished is life in Bandera cowboy country Texas after old age fourteen years and a well earned rest from the bonfire fanatics of Lewes……Sorry about that but I go off on one if Lewes is mentioned.!

      1. Joseph, here in sunny Scarborough we have an orange lodge and a Rangers(??) Private members club. They do march in their dandruff drenched black suits. We also have a statue of ‘King Billy’. Nope, I can’t understand it either. People are very reticent about it. When I get to the truth, I shall post it. The furniture in the club is fixed to the floor, and that’s where they enjoy each others company. Says it all doesn’t it. The border question hasn’t even started yet. Their fixation with borders is the usual and don’t mention dingies or fruit pickers. Coming over here taking our jobs, jabs and women. At the time of posting two women remain unkidnapped, The Children’s champion and that pretty likudist. Pip pip.

  3. “CLPs were told that they would be kicked out of the party if they refused.”
    Does this mean that the CLP would be deemed not to be a part of the LP?
    If so, there’s no problem. Refuse to fill in the form. A complete closure of a CLP would be bound to make headlines.
    If it means that all members of the CLP will be expelled, that couldn’t help but be reported, even by the Grauniad.

    1. Even by the Guardian? Perhaps but watch the ‘spin’.

      Is there a a log of all the Labour Party stories not covered by the Guardian?

      My starter: former intelligence operative working in Starmer’s office; the Livingstone court case; disciplining of JVL officers.

      Over to you all!

  4. Might Starmer and Evans invite CLP chairs to the equivalent of the Ritz Carlton in London as MbS did to other Princes and business people in Saudi Arabia a few years ago, hung them upside down, accused them of money laundering etc, and would not let them go until they coughed up. Then again many LP members might love that treatment the way they have been abused by Starmer and Co this past year.

  5. It’s a ‘school playing fields sell-off’ scenario being re-enacted!

    The confidence of the right has become ever more blatant and shameless! But, consider the scale of the silence in the MSM, power is shifting away from the nation’s democratic bases. Could this ‘almost’ be annexed to ‘Project ‘Legacy”?

    From this distance, via alternative media, we can still observe Israel surely in the process of esponging the truth of the Palestinian struggle from their fabricated legacy. Meanwhile, is the UK State not attempting to write out the UK’s socialists? Much like a line from Martin Niemoller.

  6. Morally bankrupt and now financially bankrupt! Good job Starmer. You have destroyed the Labour Party. Your Tory Peerage is in the post!

  7. Like carrion picking over the carcass. I would say, all it needs is the parasites to arrive, to pick the bones clean, but they’re there, already

  8. An other alternative, is that Evans and Starmers wish to know the value of the properties to borrow money against them and use them as collateral.
    The Labour Party would use the funds raised to keep going until 2024/2025 by which time Starmer would have lost a General Election and he would not longer be the Labour’s Party leader.
    Hence, when Labour cannot keep up with the re-payments the Party would be under a new leadership that would be blamed for it, while Starmer and Evans hope to have put enough distance from the debacle and keep their noses clean.

    1. lundiel – That’s the third time you’ve posted that link. I think we’ve all got the message now that according to the trusted Murdock press the membership numbers are down to roughly the same number they were prior to the 19GE.

      1. Read the link, it’s not from the Murdoch press and quotes the NEC and Evans.
        💩💩💩

      2. lundiel – And your point is? The only difference I can see is that The London Economic (owned by venture capitalists Greencastle Capital Ltd) haven’t given the Times a credit. I’m not disputing the figures just pointing out that the membership is back to about the same level as it was under Jeremy pre the 19GE.

      3. Quite right. It’s the third time he’s posted this information. I wonder where he got that idea.

      4. The membership is still hemorrhaging and will keep doing so untill it reaches 200,000, the pre-Corbyn average. In fact with Starmer at the helm I’d expect core support to bottom out at around 90,000.
        Labour is becoming the tool of Trevor Chinn, and .BICOM. It is a niche party beholden to those who finance it, even the Tories have more economic freedom than Chinn’s party. You deserve everything that happens.

      5. lundiel – Thanks for your opinion, why don’t you come back and tell me all about it when your crystal ball gazing comes true.

      6. “The membership is still hemorrhaging and will keep doing so until…”

        Starmer leaves Labour.,,,

        I’d say the that there’s probably a bit of a blip going-on right now though. (I’ve as good as left – cancelled my DD; told my email programme to junk every email from Labour (straight to ‘Junk’ and deleted on exit), tell all my acquaintances any political party that picks Sir Keir Rodney Starmer as its leader is obviously part of the problem, not the solution.)

        Re the property ‘grab’, presumably Evans and Lord M have worked out that when a CLP choses to leave the party, their assets go with them.

    2. Lundiel, according to the 2020 accounts membership income is up from 2019- £16,471,000 to 2020- £19,316,000. However donations have slumped by approx £13,000,000. Bear in mind the 2020 membership income and figs should include all the temporary memberships that joined to vote in the leadership election. I assume all those people won’t be renewing their memberships in the future. That’s why Labour HQ are crapping themselves because they know the real situation. Labour ran a deficit of £1,009,000 for 2020.

      The situation is dire for Labour. Max Headroom is killing the Labour Party.

  9. “A Labour Party without its mass membership is finished as an electoral force. Members bring energy, ideas, campaigning ability and a knowledge of what it’s like to live in the communities that we want to change. They are an asset to the party. The greater power they have and the greater democracy there is in the party, the stronger our movement is to take on an ascendant hard-right Tory government. Who is more likely to be successful: an empowered mass membership in the hundreds of thousands, including all wings of the party, working towards a Labour victory, or a demobilised membership led by a tiny, embattled clique?

    Starmer’s team have banked on the latter – but now their chickens are coming home to roost. Their repeated disdain for the wider movement has led to tens of thousands of people leaving the party. The consequent drop in revenue should be no surprise. This is no way to run a democratic socialist political party.”

    Andrew Scattergood.

    1. lundiel – ………..and.

      None of which alters the fact that the membership is about the same as it was before the 19GE under Corbyn’s leadership. Many on ‘the left’ may well have left but they’ve just been replaced by supporters of Keir Starmer.

      1. baz2001- Which figure do you want me to prove the one pre 19GE or now

      2. baz2001 – Are we to take it that your lack of response indicates that having now done some research yourself you now accept that my figures are correct.

      1. Red Tory losses
        It’s in their prospectus, 5 million votes lost and party on the verge of bankruptcy
        Methinks
        Tis history repeating itself

      2. I’m puzzled. Who is “Landis”? Is it “lundiel” and, if so, why? If not, who is it?

      3. Yes, who is Landis? You must think that’s my name you silly man. I’ve never hidden who I am my name is Linda Lundie: Lundie L.

      4. lundiel – I notice that like me you also didn’t spot my phone’s auto correct mistake until someone else pointed it out to you.

      5. That is some strange phone with a crazy autocorrect using a nonexistent word. Either that or you’ve previously been sending messages about John Landis. Time for a new phone?

  10. Dismal. What is there to say except time to shut up shop and kick off a movement with real vitality. These people have sunk the ship and are now trying to bail out the lifeboats with kiddies buckets. Truly hopeless.

  11. If the party is skint, pink lint, brassica, potless
    Then it will take very little to push them over the edge and buy our party back from the Receiver for buttons
    But only members and Unions can do the nudging

  12. The generous pub landlady who left Hastings & Rye Labour Party a two up two down house in a not particularly salubrious part of the town, in her will, was already turning in her grave when orders went out under Miliband for regional offices to seize title deeds. It is likely the updated information is to ensure no other act of generosity as been overlooked. No doubt an assessment of property owned will make them feel more secure about raising loans to tide them over. Loans cost a lot and bank rates will be up to 4% some think by next year. So not only have Evans and Starmer drained the coffers with vile and vindictive litigation against good socialists, paid off right wing staffers who deliberately undermined the Party and Corbyn during the 2017 General Election, but will be in hock to the banks again as they were for years when membership and union numbers declined. That right wing excuse of a Union leadership at Unison won’t be able to bail them out.

    1. I did, and most of the links were to things related to John Landis, the film director.
      I am usually reluctant to respond to people in kind but, if you persist in your use of the word “silly”, my civility could eventually desert me.

      1. goldbach – WGAF.
        I think it is a silly and childish waste of time to obsess about an obvious typo, you obviously think otherwise. That’s your problem not mine.

      2. Aha. The word again. I am afraid I shall have to respond that I consider you to be a Rodney.

  13. Looks like CLPs and branches will have to move fast if they want to hang on to their assets, which in some constituencies are substantial.

    Quickest way would be to hold an emergency meeting, make sure it’s quorate, and disaffiliate.

    Or you could transfer the property into the names of people who aren’t LP members. But disaffiliation might be quicker.

    Thanks Ed – another winner!

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