Sir Keir Starmer declared that Labour will “the party of wealth creation” as he unveiled his manifesto for government in Manchester today.
The new tack by Labour marked a departure from the socialist plan in Jeremy Corbyn’s 2019 manifesto which at the time was supported by Sir Keir as shadow Brexit secretary.
But while Sir Keir’s Labour is hoping to win the hearts and minds of Tory voters with a new pro-busienss, pro-economic growth agenda, they have taken aim at the tories’ chief executive Stephen Massey after it emerged a company he is connected with has turned in a profit.
Mr Massey is a non-executive director of Canaccord Genuity, which, according to the latest filing at Companies House for the financial year ending 31 March 2023, paid a dividend of £26.5m to its parent company based in the tax haven of Jersey.
Even though as a non-executive director Mr Massey does not run the company, Labour described him as “a fat cat” who helped cause the financial turmoil hitting the country.
A Labour source said: “These fat cats got the cream while the Tories they backed plunged families across the country into financial turmoil.
“The only way to end the chaos, turn the page and rebuild Britain is by voting Labour on July 4.”
They noted that speaking in December 2022 Massey warned of “big issues, made worse by our politicians”. Giving his company’s outlook for 2023 Massey spoke of the “economic misery” in the UK.
Massey has donated more than £300,000 to the Conservatives was appointed to run the Conservative head office months after giving £25,000 to Rishi Sunak’s failed leadership in August 2022.
Massey’s fellow Canaccord director David Esfandi is also a Sunak donor, chipping in £5,000 to his loss to Liz Truss.
But the Tories were unsure what Mr Massey was supposed to have done wrong pointing out many financial instituions including pension funds put money in tax havens simply to avoid paying double tax.
Canaccord confirmed that it pays all its corporation tax in the UK.
A spokesperson for the company said: “The document on Companies House pertains to an intermediate company within our overall group structure.
“In this instance, a dividend of £26.5million was received and then paid during the period.
“This is simply an internal movement of funds from one part of the group to another. This is standard corporate treasury management practice within a group structure. Although the parent company is incorporated in Jersey, it is tax resident in the UK and therefore subject to UK corporation tax.”
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