Labour has demanded that the Conservative party explain who knew about a tax investigation into one of its most important donors, Anthony Bamford, and when they were informed. Anneliese Dodds, the Labour party chair, has written to her Tory opposite number, Greg Hands, to ask if the party will return millions of pounds donated by the peer and his family, if HMRC finds wrongdoing. It comes at a sensitive time for the Conservative party, which is gathering for its party conference in Manchester next week and struggling to fill its war chest before the next general election.
The Bamfords, who own the JCB construction equipment empire, have been among the biggest donors to the party in recent years, with support totalling more than £10m. This week, the Guardian revealed that Bamford, who was made a life peer by David Cameron in 2013, has been under investigation for three years over his tax affairs along with his brother and fellow Tory donor, Mark. The letter, made public “in the national interest”, called on Hands to explain if Lord Bamford disclosed the investigation to him, the Tory party or the party whips. “Public faith in politics and politicians has been severely tarnished by the past few years,” wrote Dodds. “I do not need to remind you of the prime minister’s promise on entering No 10 of ‘professionalism, integrity and accountability at all levels’. I would be grateful if you could explain how this promise is compatible with such a significant donor being under investigation. “The strength of our democracy and the public’s confidence in politics and politicians depends on all of us in public life being seen to do the right thing.” Bamford and his family have given more than £10m to the Conservative party over the past 20 years via gifts and donations, and were prominent backers of the Vote Leave campaign to exit the EU. During the period the investigation by HMRC has been ongoing the party and the former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss have accepted donations and gifts from the Bamfords. Lord Bamford personally paid for Johnson’s 2021 wedding party, which he hosted at his Cotswold estate, and offered the use of his own London townhouse and a cottage to the former PM’s family at below market rent last year. The family’s company JC Bamford Excavators also helped fund Truss’s Conservative party leadership campaign in 2022. Dodds asked Hands: “If wrongdoing is found, will you return, in full, all of Lord Bamford’s donations to your party?” The Conservative party and Hands have been approached for comment. On Thursday, the prime minister refused to say if the party would accept any further donations from Lord Bamford or his family while the investigation was ongoing. “I am obviously not familiar with individual people’s tax circumstances, but what I would say is that all donations to the Conservative party follow a rigorous process that’s set out transparently, and declared in the normal way and that will always be the case,” Rishi Sunak told the BBC. “We have a rigorous process, it’s set out, and we transparently declare all our donations. It wouldn’t be right for me to comment on any individual’s tax circumstances.” Dodds cited Hands’s predecessor Nadhim Zahawi being forced to stand down as Tory party chair after the Guardian revealed that he had paid a multimillion-pound penalty to HMRC over his tax affairs. She called for Hands to “get a grip on the seemingly endless scandals related to your party’s donors”. JC Bamford Excavators, the yellow digger company founded by Lord Bamford’s father, Joseph Cyril Bamford, was the fourth most important source of political party donations for any party in the 2019 election and the Tories’ top donor that year, according to a 2022 study by the University of Warwick. Anthony and Mark are directors of the company. Lord Bamford was knighted in 1990. The family is in a “super-donor” category, academics found. Another of Lord Bamford’s companies, JCB Research, was also a “super donor” in 2010. JCB was founded in 1945 and has 22 factories globally, employing more than 18,000 people, who make more than 300 different products. It made pre-tax profits of £501.6m in 2022 on turnover of £4.4bn. The Guardian approached Lord Bamford and his brother Mark on Wednesday. Neither has provided comment about the investigation. HMRC has declined to comment on identifiable taxpayers and said that it can neither confirm nor deny the investigation, citing confidentiality obligations.