WEAPONS manufacturers, fossil fuel companies, and a contentious spy-tech firm are among the sponsors for this year’s Labour Party conference.
Boeing and Babcock, which both manufacture missiles, and controversial CIA-funded spyware firm Palantir will sponsor fringe events hosted by centre-left media company New Statesman Media Group.
UK-based Babcock has arms deals with the Government and has recently signed a deal with Israel Aerospace Industries, while the owner of Palantir has donated to Donald Trump’s political campaign.
Private health care companies, fossil fuel firms and major banks are also among those paying to have a presence at the event in Liverpool.
Speaking to openDemocracy, Labour MP Clive Lewis has questioned why the party is “cosying up” to some of these organisations.
The party has been additionally been slated by environmental groups and anti-weapon campaigners, who have branded the sponsorships “disgusting”.
Lewis told openDemocracy: “I do not think that organisations like Palantir and others are necessarily the kind of organisations that Labour, in the year before a General Election, should be cosying up to.
“I think they should be saying ‘look, we’ll deal with you but frankly, some of you are part of the problem’.
“I think it’s entirely possible to be on the side of the entrepreneurs without necessarily having to get into bed with big oil companies, big corporations or the likes of Palantir, and the Labour party should be really clear about that.”
Babcock will sponsor a talk entitled Sovereign Capability: How can we make, buy and sell British?, while Palantir – which has built software to support drone strikes and immigration raids - will sponsor a talk on the Ukraine conflict.
Palantir is also tipped to win a £480m deal this year to build a single database that will eventually hold all the data in the NHS.
Campaigners against the arms industry have condemned the decision to allow weapons manufacturers at the event.
Emily Apple, media co-ordinator at Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), said: “These companies should not be given this legitimacy or the opportunity to lobby policy makers in order to continue making profits for their shareholders from a deadly trade that causes destruction and misery around the world.”
Envionmental groups have also spoken out, warning the party against links with oil and gas companies.
“The fossil fuel lobby is no stranger to cosying up with policymakers,” said Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK’s policy director.
“They’ve had a lot of success and made a lot of cash from doing so in the past.
“But Labour must not make the same costly mistakes as the Conservatives by giving these self-serving climate-wreckers the opportunity to launder their political reputation.”
