Lothian Buses leaders spent £2,000 at Labour fundraiser

Published on Monday 3 May 2010 10:13

A POLITICAL row has broken out after it emerged that bosses at publicly-funded Lothian Buses spent £2,000 on a table at a Labour Party fundraising dinner.

Council leader and Liberal Democrat councillor Jenny Dawe is to write to the firm demanding that it asks the Scottish Labour Party to return the money.

Details of the event have only now emerged after deputy council leader and SNP councillor Steve Cardownie obtained details from council chief executive Tom Aitchison.

Among those on the Lothian Buses table at the event, which took place in Glasgow in February 2007, was former chairman Pilmar Smith, also a former Labour activist and chairman of the East Lothian Labour Party.

Former chief executive Neil Renilson and managing director Ian Craig also attended the dinner, which included a keynote address from then Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Cllr Dawe said: "I am taking this very seriously. Under our administration, I would be aghast if any invitations went to Lothian Buses inviting them to take a table at a political event. It puts a company like Lothian Buses in a very awkward situation. I wouldn't expect them to be asked, or to volunteer, when they know the money is going into political party coffers.

"Now that I have heard about this I will write and say it has come to my attention and I would not expect that sort of behaviour to happen again. I will also say that it has been suggested that they should approach them (Labour] to get the donation repaid."

She added: "It was a different management team (at Lothian Buses] then, with a different chief executive and chairman. The affiliations of the previous chairman were well-known and that may have influenced the decision."

Earlier this year, it emerged that bosses at City Building, an arms-length firm of Glasgow City Council, twice spent 2,000 on tables at Scottish Labour dinners. After details of the events emerged, bosses at the firm wrote to Scottish Labour and asked it to return the money.

Lothian Buses was set up as a private company, but is funded by the councils of the Lothians, with the city council being major shareholder.

Cllr Cardownie said: "Lothian Buses is wholly-owned by the public of the Lothians and should not be getting involved in giving money to party funds, as it did at this dinner.

"I think it is inappropriate. It is not quite on the scale of what has been happening in Glasgow, but it is concerning and the Labour Party are obliged to return the money."

As well as the five Lothian Buses board members that attended the event, the company also invited five guests, including David Mackay, then chairman of Transport Edinburgh Limited, and Alastair Richards, then boss of tram firm TIE.

Sources at Lothian Buses confirmed that representatives of the company attended the Labour Party event. They said that they have booked tables at events in the past, mainly awards dinners, because of the company's recent financial performance.

Cllr Andrew Burns, leader of the Labour group on the city council, said: "I am only aware of these accusations because of what Cllr Cardownie said.

"If Cllr Dawe wants to write to Lothian Buses, then it is a matter for Lothian Buses to resolve."

A spokesman for Lothian Buses said they had not yet received a letter from Cllr Dawe about the event.