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Red Ken and his union paymasters

Ken Livingstone is being challenged to either hand back the money given to him by ASLEF or admit publicly to Londoners that he fully supports the striking Union.

Livingstone’s campaign to become the Labour Mayoral candidate was funded by the Trade Unions, with ASLEF donating £5,000. He ran that campaign out of the office of the TSSA whilst his choice to be Deputy Mayor, Val Shawcross, was "caught on camera" last week on a picket line with the RMT.

It is surely no surprise then that Ken Livingstone never denounces the Tube strikes or stands up for the hard-working Londoners who are fed-up with having their businesses and lives disrupted.

Given this, Greg Hands MP has asked Ken Livingstone to either hand back the £5,000 ASLEF gave him and denounce the strikers or admit to Londoners that he is working with the Unions to cause as much chaos as possible in an attempt to undermine Mayor Johnson.

Greg Hands MP said:

“Ken Livingstone goes around proclaiming he is on the side of Londoners but the reality is that he will always stand up for his Union paymasters interests first.

“He has taken money and office space from both ASLEF and the TSSA whilst his Deputy Mayoral running mate is a supporter of the RMT.

“The militant, striking Unions are bankrolling Ken and it is clear that their strike action is part of a co-ordinated campaign to try and undermine Mayor Johnson.

“Ken Livingstone now has a choice to make: either hand back the money the strikers have given him or finally admit to Londoners that he is in the back pocket of the Unions and is working with them to cause as much disruption as possible to commuters and business”.

Ken Livingstone publicly registered with Electoral Commission that he received £32,500 from the Trade Union movement for his Labour Mayoral nomination campaign:

  • Unite London & Eastern Region - £10,000
  • Unite - £10,000
  • ASLEF - £5,000
  • CWU - £5,000
  • GMB Southern Region - £2,500

Ken Livingstone ran his office to be the Labour Mayoral candidate from the London HQ of the TSSA.

Val Shawcross was photographed outside City Hall on December 15th at a TSSA/RMT picket.

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