Labour Branded “Party of Polluters” as Stop Polluting Politics Blocks HQ in Protest Over Donations from Polluting Corporations
On Thursday, 27th June, 50 campaigners from Stop Polluting Politics blockaded the Labour HQ to protest against the party’s financial ties to polluting corporations such as Drax and Airbus. Amid chants of “Labour! Come off it! Put people over profit!” and banners reading “Labour: Party of the People Polluters,” the campaigners physically blocked both entrances to the HQ at 20 Rushworth Street, London.
Campaigners argue that Labour’s connections to major polluters are responsible for the party’s decision to abandon its flagship £28 billion green investment pledge. Since 2019, Labour has received £41,600 from polluters, including £9,600 from the aviation firm Airbus, and has long-term ties to the biomass company Drax. Drax, which donated £12,000 to Labour, owns the UK’s largest single source of carbon emissions and has been criticized for causing toxic pollution levels in the southern United States, contributing to environmental racism.
Labour recently faced criticism after reselecting Graham Stringer, a trustee of the climate-denying think tank Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF). Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has also come under scrutiny for her association with GWPF, having accepted £10,000 from its former chairman shortly before abandoning the £28 billion green investment pledge.
Sam Smith, spokesperson for Stop Polluting Politics, stated: “Allowing polluters to sponsor major political parties is as destructive as having tobacco companies fund research on smoking and public health. How can we trust a party that takes money from environment-wrecking corporations like Drax or Airbus to deliver a sustainable, worker-led green transition? By accepting their donations, Labour is selling out to the companies hurtling us towards a suffocating future. After 14 years of watching Big Oil lobbyists prowl Westminster under the Tories, we deserve better. This general election is a vital opportunity to break the money pipeline. We demand that Labour commit to banning donations from polluters and put a stop to the toxic lobbying.”
