Friends, figures and funds

Unite has dismissed Grant Shapps’ use of ‘friends’ to artificially boost Tory membership, by revealing the hedge fund donors – the Tory’s true friends with benefits – who have stood to gain from government policies.

As party chairman Grant Shapps was telling the Tory faithful of an increase of membership as a result of the party adding one pound friends to their membership numbers, he was a little coy about his real friends – the multi-billion hedge funds who are funding his party to the tune of £6m a year.

Shapps has added a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘friends with benefits’ because these are special friends and they get very special benefits – tax breaks, changes in the law, and access to the PM.

Figures from the Electoral Commission reveal that in reality the only ‘friends’ who benefit from Tory polices are hedge fund bosses and Tory donors, which have raked in profits from tax cuts, the sell-off of our NHS and subsidies to shale gas fracking.

“Tory party membership is in terminal decline and so Shapps is forced to use so-called ‘friends’ to boost the figures,” said Unite general secretary, Len McCluskey.

“The Tory’s true friends with benefits are the hedge fund managers filling Conservative coffers.”

Beneficiaries of Tory policies include Michael Hintze, who has donated more than ÂŁ1,7m to the Conservatives since 2010.

Hedge fund bosses like Hintze, benefited from the abolition of stamp duty reserve tax in George Osborne’s 2013 budget, which saves hedge funds an estimated total of £145m a year.

Hedge fund bosses Paul Ruddock, Sir Martyn Arbib, Robin Crispin Odey and Michael Platt have donated hundreds of thousands of pounds between them since 2010.

Together they own the controlling share of Circle, one of the largest private health firms to take advantage of the Tory’s Health and Social Care Act. Aside from taking over the first fully privatised NHS hospital, Hinchingbrooke in Cambridgeshire, Circle have won a £120 million contract to provide musculoskeletal services in Bedfordshire.

But it’s not just about making money out of healthcare – other policy ‘benefits’ are also up for grabs.

In 2013, Osborne announced a 50 per cent tax break for the fracking industry. One man who stood to benefit was Tory donor Howard Shore. Shore Capital is the broker and adviser to fracking company Union Jack.

Another firm about to make its fracking debut is the BG Group. Australian oil giant Dart Energy owns a 49 per cent share in BG and is a former client of Crosby-Textor.

Name sounds familiar? It’s the lobbying firm founded by none other than David Cameron’s election strategist, Lynton Crosby.

Len McCluskey is not surprised. “It seems no coincidence that many Tory polices, from the sell-off of our NHS to tax cuts for fracking, benefit the hedge funds.

“We should never forget that the Conservatives govern on behalf of the millionaires, not the millions.”

*All figures are sourced from the Electoral Commission.