Well, well, well. It would appear the former Unite the Union boss Len McCluskey is not immune to the temptation of free gifts. An internal report has revealed that the trade unionist enjoyed private jets and freebie football tickets arranged by a company in charge of building a multi-million pound hotel for the organisation. Alright for some!
The Unite report notes that the Corbynite ‘overruled’ advice from staff and union lawyers when he signed the contract with the Flanagan Group firm – which is run by the former union boss’s ‘good friends’ – with the company going on to overcharge Unite at least £30 million for the Birmingham hotel and conference centre project. More than that, the review found that the union awarded Flanagan Group the contract to build the hotel without a ‘competitive tendering process’ – and despite the company’s ‘history of poor performance, delays…and cost overruns on previous contracts’. Oh dear…
The probe also stated that private flights (which, the report said, jetted McCluskey to Liverpool games in Kyiv and Madrid) and footie and hospitality tickets were ‘consistently organised and paid for’ by the Flanagan Group. It claimed McCluskey received ticket for five Liverpool games in the UK, and of these four included hospitality. The report also noted that there is ‘no indication’ McCluskey later reimbursed the expense. For his part, the former trade union chief’s lawyers told the Beeb that he paid for his own travel in full and – according to his memory – always paid for his football tickets. McCluskey also denied had ignored the advice of union staff or lawyers. There are no concerns, however, that the trade unionist breached Unite’s gifts policy because, um, it didn’t have one. How helpful!
The ex-union boss was hugely supportive of the Unite hotel project which was expected to be an investment for union members as well as a conference venue. But costs began to soar: the union’s auditors found Unite has spent as much as £125 million on a development which has since been valued at, er, £38 million. The Serious Fraud Office got involved and last year launched a probe into the project. McCluskey’s successor, Sharon Graham, was quick to order a number of internal inquiries after stumbling across apparent irregularities in the union’s accounts. ‘Now that I’ve uncovered it, I’m going to make sure that it never happens again,’ Graham remarked, adding: ‘Because this is members’ money, I expect it back in the union – and I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that happens.’ And Mr S can imagine her trade union members are awaiting updates with bated breath…
Comments