A SCOTTISH Labour peer has insisted the party are receiving “no favours” as they close in on a deal to rent offices owned by his son amid a row over freebies.
The Sunday National can reveal the party failed to declare how much it spent on renting offices in its most recent accounts filed with the Electoral Commission.
Labour peer Willie Haughey’s son Kenneth is set to be Scottish Labour’s new landlord when they move into their new offices at Donald Dewar House in Laurieston, Glasgow.
There are concerns Labour could be benefitting from an undeclared “gift in kind” if they are benefitting from a “mates’ rates” deal on rent.
The planned deal has sparked controversy in the past because the premises are ultimately owned by a company registered in a tax haven.
He said the party was getting “no favours” from his son on the deal and insisted the party were paying above the market value for the premises.
The party in 2023 vacated premises in Bath Street in the city centre but are said not to have moved in yet.
While the Scottish Labour website lists their address as the new site, the Sunday National has been told they are yet to move in and have been staying at other premises owned by Haughey, including a Portakabin in Rutherglen.
Their accounts for 2023 show a significant reduction in spending on the previous year, down from £897,786 in 2022 to £565,478.
That came as their income grew by £247,123 to a little more than £1 million, taking them from a £123,787 deficit to a surplus of £455,644.
Lord Haughey told the Sunday National he was overseeing the deal between his son and the party to ensure it is “as clean as a whistle”.
But he refused to say how much they were paying in rent.
An SNP source said: “There are clearly questions that have to be answered here.
“Given the existing concerns around the Labour Party's donation culture, the party must set the record straight about exactly what is going on here.”
Lord Haughey insisted the party was paying above a commercial rate.
He said: “The rent that they’re going to pay for there is absolutely no favours.”
Lord Haughey, who donated thousands to Anas Sarwar (above) and Jackie Baillie, added: “The lease is more than above a true commercial rate. The lease has not been signed yet, but in the negotiations, the lease will be more than 9% on the capital employed, which anybody will tell you, on a commercial property at the moment, that’s a really good return. That’s a fact.”
He added: “They were supposed to move in, I think, on September 1 and they haven’t. They’ve not got the furniture in it yet, so that tells you everything.”
Asked where the party had been since leaving the city centre, Lord Haughey said: “They were working out of a Portakabin in Rutherglen up at Burnside.”
It was previously reported the party intended to move to the Glasgow office this spring.
Donald Dewar House is owned by Haughey’s company CommsFM, which is the subsidiary of Impulse Management Ltd, a company based at a PO box in Tortola, British Virgin Islands (BVI).
There are growing concerns about Labour’s links with tax havens after it emerged earlier this month that the party was gifted £4m by a hedge fund registered in the Cayman Islands, while Labour donor and peer Waheed Alli had failed to declare that he is a director at a company based in BVI.
His most recent donation to Labour was to Michael Shanks (above). He gave the Energy Minister and Rutherglen MP £3890 worth of “second-hand furniture” for his constituency office, according to the register of MPs’ financial interests.
In 2020, he donated £3000 to Baillie’s successful bid to become deputy leader of Scottish Labour.
Lord Haughey also donated £10,000 to Sarwar’s 2017 leadership bid, where he lost to Richard Leonard.
A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: “The Scottish Labour Party makes all declarations in line with rules set out by the Electoral Commission and pays rent commercially.
“The SNP remain under police investigation.
“The National’s Glasgow offices are based in a building owned by Covault, a company registered in the Isle of Man with a controlling owner based in Monaco.”
