Fifteen out of the 39 Labour Councillors in Lambeth are being reported to the Council's Standards 'watchdog' for failing to declare who funded their election expenses in the May elections.
Tory Group Leader Councillor John Whelan checked the members' declarations of interests on Friday 4th August and noted the culprits who include Cabinet Member for Finance Jim Dickson, a former Council Leader.
"This is yet another example of Labour cocking a snook at the rules and telling porkies," says Cllr Whelan. "Prescotts they are not, but they are playing at the same game of
"I am writing to the independent Chair of the Council's Standards Committee asking for an investigation into the probity issues around these false declarations. If the Labour Party didn't pay their election expenses then who did? The public have a right to know, especially as some of them belong to trade unions."
The 'unclean 15' are:
1. Cllr Kingsley Abrams
2. Cllr Marcia Cameron
3. Cllr Lorna Campbell
4. Cllr Jim Dickson
5. Cllr Betty Evans-Jacas
6. Cllr Daniel Fitzpatrick
7. Cllr Rachel Heywood
8. Cllr Michael Hipwell
9. Cllr Ruth Ling
10. Cllr Sharon Malley
11. Cllr Florence Nosegbe
12. Cllr Helen O'Malley
13. Cllr Dr Neeraj Patil
14. Cllr Pete Robbins
15. Cllr Toren Smith
Councillor Whelan adds: "One of the unclean 15, Councillor Hipwell, is head of risk and compliance for a bank in the City. You'd think that he and Councillor Dickson, the administration's new finance guru with 16 years' on the Council, would know who paid for their election leaflets. You'd also think Labour could do better than this especially now that their agent from the election Morgan McSweeney is head of the Labour Leader's Office."
CLICK HERE for Cllr John Whelan's weblog entry on this issue >>
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