Saturday, October 08, 2022
Raising money for the Tories
The Mirror has an interesting insight on how the Tories raise some of their money, with a piece in which Gareth Quarry, who has defected to Labour with a £100,000 donation, tells of secretive meals with a 'planted Q and A' where 'the great and the good were allowed to ask one question each':
In an explosive Sky News interview, legal recruitment boss Gareth Quarry branded the Conservatives “riven with arrogance and complacency” and “totally out of touch” with the public.
Mr Quarry, 63, said meals with donors who gave over £50,000 would have “a planted Q and A the great and the good were allowed to ask one question each” to powerful Tory figures.
He added he got “access” to ex-PM David Cameron in exchange for his donations - and “because alcohol was involved” it would “be a bit more relaxed”.
After giving £100,000 to Keir Starmer ’s Labour recently, Mr Quarry claimed he was not seeking influence despite attending the meals.
But “in an ideal world” all private donations to political parties would be axed, he admitted.
It comes days after Mr Quarry, who handed the Tories £75,000 from 2014 to 2017, defected to Labour accusing the Conservatives from turning Britain into a “laughing stock”.
Donors who give £50,000 or more can join the Conservative Party ’s 'Leader's Group', allowing them in to private dinners and lunches with the PM and ministers.
Mirror analysis of past records suggested 120 men and two women went to Leader’s Group meals between January 2017 and June 2018.
Yet attendees at the dinners have not been published since 2018, breaking a Tory pledge, and the party has scrubbed all past records from its website.
The businessman - who admitted he will be a “pariah” with some - slammed Boris Johnson ’s “personal aggrandisement” and said Liz Truss had “veered off to the right”.
He added he “could not give a toss” about cutting corporation tax while poorer Brits are “in despair”.
He said inequality is “more marked than ever before”, going on: “I have made a lot of money and I could not sit by and just watch that happen.”
Remain-voting Mr Quarry shed light on a “very small” dinner with David Cameron before the ex-PM flew to Germany to get a deal on EU relations, in a bid to prevent the Brexit vote.
“I had conversations in a very small group over dinner with Cameron before he went to Germany to try to get what he wanted,” he said.
“And he assured me ‘Gareth, Angela [Merkel] is gonna give me what we want.’
“And I asked him directly, I said David what if she doesn't. He said, don’t you trouble your head, she will.”
He went on: “There were various tiers of which the two top, then, it may have changed now, were linked to the amount you gave a year and the second tier got you Cabinet Ministers coming to have lunch with you either in Westminster or in a club somewhere.
“And they would stand on their pins and say everything in the garden’s rosy, and we need to do this. And then there would be a sort of planted Q and A.
“The great and the good were allowed to ask one question each after lunch.
“There was also a higher tier… which was for those who gave a materially higher amount a year. And that got you, yes, access to Cameron.
“I was invited to some of those events and I went to some of those events, which were small round table usually at dinner, when it would follow the same format, but it would go on for longer.
“And because alcohol was involved, be a bit more relaxed.”
He added: “The Tory party is riven with arrogance and complacency. This is totally out of touch.
“I sat in rooms with the top group of donors. I'm a boy from Bedford, I felt totally out of it. There were people… born with silver spoons in their mouths. That's not who I am.”
None of this is new of course, and I believe it was something similar to dinners hosted by New Labour. Still it's nice to have it confirmed.
In an explosive Sky News interview, legal recruitment boss Gareth Quarry branded the Conservatives “riven with arrogance and complacency” and “totally out of touch” with the public.
Mr Quarry, 63, said meals with donors who gave over £50,000 would have “a planted Q and A the great and the good were allowed to ask one question each” to powerful Tory figures.
He added he got “access” to ex-PM David Cameron in exchange for his donations - and “because alcohol was involved” it would “be a bit more relaxed”.
After giving £100,000 to Keir Starmer ’s Labour recently, Mr Quarry claimed he was not seeking influence despite attending the meals.
But “in an ideal world” all private donations to political parties would be axed, he admitted.
It comes days after Mr Quarry, who handed the Tories £75,000 from 2014 to 2017, defected to Labour accusing the Conservatives from turning Britain into a “laughing stock”.
Donors who give £50,000 or more can join the Conservative Party ’s 'Leader's Group', allowing them in to private dinners and lunches with the PM and ministers.
Mirror analysis of past records suggested 120 men and two women went to Leader’s Group meals between January 2017 and June 2018.
Yet attendees at the dinners have not been published since 2018, breaking a Tory pledge, and the party has scrubbed all past records from its website.
The businessman - who admitted he will be a “pariah” with some - slammed Boris Johnson ’s “personal aggrandisement” and said Liz Truss had “veered off to the right”.
He added he “could not give a toss” about cutting corporation tax while poorer Brits are “in despair”.
He said inequality is “more marked than ever before”, going on: “I have made a lot of money and I could not sit by and just watch that happen.”
Remain-voting Mr Quarry shed light on a “very small” dinner with David Cameron before the ex-PM flew to Germany to get a deal on EU relations, in a bid to prevent the Brexit vote.
“I had conversations in a very small group over dinner with Cameron before he went to Germany to try to get what he wanted,” he said.
“And he assured me ‘Gareth, Angela [Merkel] is gonna give me what we want.’
“And I asked him directly, I said David what if she doesn't. He said, don’t you trouble your head, she will.”
He went on: “There were various tiers of which the two top, then, it may have changed now, were linked to the amount you gave a year and the second tier got you Cabinet Ministers coming to have lunch with you either in Westminster or in a club somewhere.
“And they would stand on their pins and say everything in the garden’s rosy, and we need to do this. And then there would be a sort of planted Q and A.
“The great and the good were allowed to ask one question each after lunch.
“There was also a higher tier… which was for those who gave a materially higher amount a year. And that got you, yes, access to Cameron.
“I was invited to some of those events and I went to some of those events, which were small round table usually at dinner, when it would follow the same format, but it would go on for longer.
“And because alcohol was involved, be a bit more relaxed.”
He added: “The Tory party is riven with arrogance and complacency. This is totally out of touch.
“I sat in rooms with the top group of donors. I'm a boy from Bedford, I felt totally out of it. There were people… born with silver spoons in their mouths. That's not who I am.”
None of this is new of course, and I believe it was something similar to dinners hosted by New Labour. Still it's nice to have it confirmed.
