A MYSTERY donor has donated a whopping £40,000 to the official campaign against pollution-cutting measures in Glasgow.
The campaign, set up by Glasgow businessman William Paton, received a major boost from an anonymous source three days ago, according to its GoFundMe page.
Paton, who owns Patons Accident Repair Centre in the city centre, is leading the charge against the council’s low-emissions zone (LEZ) and has raised £49,740 – the bulk of which has come from one anonymous source.
The LEZ bans polluting vehicles from Glasgow city centre with a punitive regime of fines but is facing the prospect of a legal challenge from Paton.
The mystery donor has substantially helped the campaign cover the cost of bringing a judicial review against the scheme – though the fightback fund is still well shy of its stated target of £200,000.
According to a report in The Herald on Sunday, Paton has been given the go-ahead to petition the Scottish Government to block the Glasgow scheme.
While the council has defended its scheme as being a vital environmental and public health measure, critics have said it will disproportionately affect poor people and hammer city businesses.
We previously revealed how the PR firm hired by the campaign was headed by media guru Jack Irvine, who previously aided the notorious campaign against the Scottish Government’s repeal of Section 28.
Irvine was also revealed to have worked for the Brexit Party under the leadership of Nigel Farage and once referred to gay men as “slobbering old queers” in an article in The Mirror.
The campaign was approached for comment.
