FORMER Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy invited business chiefs to a “private roundtable meeting” inside the UK Treasury headquarters last month, it has emerged.
The ex-Labour Cabinet minister – who heads up lobbying firm Arden Strategies – organised the meeting with Ian Corfield, a Labour donor who sparked controversy when he was handed a top Treasury job after giving cash to key Labour figures.
An invite seen by Politico read: “Ahead of the International Investment Summit on 14 October, this meeting will provide an opportunity for you, alongside other UK business leaders, to hear from Ian about the government's investment priorities, and for you to share your thoughts and ideas.”
The ex-Scottish Secretary, who served in Gordon Brown's Cabinet, built up goodwill with party figures in the run-up to Labour's landslide win, helping the party to run business events and put on fundraisers for candidates.
Arden Strategies has sponsored two successive Labour business conferences and several MPs benefitted from a joint Arden/Budweiser fundraiser during the campaign, according to the official register of interests.
Arden’s logo was also prominent at Labour Party conference in Liverpool and its panels secured appearances from the likes of Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
There is no suggestion Arden has broken any rules with the Treasury event, but the event has raised eyebrows among ethics campaigners.
While it is not unusual for lobbying firms to arrange meet-ups involving government officials and clients, it is less common for firms to pick attendees for events on government premises.
Labour have also come under fire repeatedly in recent weeks over gifts given to top ministers by wealthy donors.
“Outsourcing ‘drumming up business’ to friendly lobby groups risks giving their clients privileged access to ministers, potentially squeezing out other legitimate business interests and public interest concerns,” warned Susan Hawley, executive director of anti-graft group Spotlight on Corruption.
“This suggests that the new government may not yet have fully taken into account the grave risks of pervasive conflicts of interest and policy capture that its new ‘co-governing with business’ strategy could potentially bring.”
"If we had a government meeting we would always choose the cast list ourselves. We wouldn’t ask a lobbying firm to curate it," said Henry Newman, a former political adviser to Tory ministers including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove.
Arden Strategies confirmed the event in a statement, saying it “was a Treasury roundtable."
“We were happy to join a group of business leaders who want to invest in the UK at a meeting in the Treasury. Some of the attendees were clients of Arden, and many were not, all of whom want to bring investment and jobs here,” a spokesperson for the firm said.
