16 May 2017
DUP under renewed pressure for full disclosure on Brexit ‘dark money’ from shadowy group and Saudis
More than a quarter of a million pounds – £282,000 – was spent by the DUP on the London freesheet. The party’s total expenditure in its 2015 general election campaign was less than a quarter of that – £58,000.
THE DUP is under renewed pressure for full disclosure behind a secretive £425,000 donation during the Brexit referendum campaign, much of which was spent by the DUP on a free newspaper wraparound advert in London – where the DUP has no presence!
More than a quarter of a million pounds – £282,000 – was spent by the DUP on the London freesheet. The party’s total expenditure in its 2015 general election campaign was less than a quarter of that – £58,000.
The channeling of money from the mysterious ‘Constitutional Research Council’ to the DUP was uncovered by the openDemocracy newsweb in February and is still under scrutiny.
Today, Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Alliance Party again raised the issue after a piece by columnist Fintan O’Toole under the headline “What connects Brexit, the DUP, dark money and a Saudi prince?”
A strapline adds: “The story of a massive donation to the DUP is like a John le Carré novel – but voters need facts, not fiction.”
Investigative reporters from openDemocracy say it is suspected that the DUP was used as a conduit for this “extraordinary spend” because of the lack of donor transparency in the Six Counties, unlike England, Wales and Scotland.
Despite claims by the DUP that it has now named its donors, almost nothing is known about the ‘Constitutional Research Council’, openDemocracy says:
“This shadowy group has no formal or legal status and refuses to name its members, if it has any. There is no evidence that it has any way of generating income, giving it the appearance of a front organisation set up to funnel money from secretive sources into political campaigns.”
There have been allegations of involvement by Saudi Arabian Intelligence.
It is illegal to receive election donations from a foreign government.
“The DUP has refused to identify their dealings with the Constitutional Research Council and where the ‘Dark Money’ came from,” Sinn Féin’s Máirtín Ó Muilleoir said.
“What we do know is that the DUP were fully aware of the disaster Brexit will be to our people, our economy and our public services.
“The DUP took the money for Brexit and we are all paying the price.
“Voters have a right to know from the DUP where the actual source of the donation is.”