6 2GM Monday June 29 2020 | the times
News
Richard Desmond hired a PR firm co-
owned by Ben Elliot, the co-chairman
of the Conservative Party, to help
change gambling rules in his favour, a
revelation that will deepen concerns
over his access to senior ministers.
Mr Desmond claimed Boris Johnson
had agreed to raise the jackpot limit on
his commercial lottery at a No 10 recep-
tion for business leaders in September.
It can be revealed that his company,
Northern & Shell, hired Hawthorn Ad-
visors in January when Mr Elliot was a
director of the PR and lobbying firm.
It has also emerged that Priti Patel,
the home secretary, lobbied for the
relaxation of lottery rules telling MPs
that Mr Desmond’s Health Lottery was
an “astonishing vehicle for bringing
direct support” to grassroots charities,
while criticising high salaries at Came-
lot, which runs the National Lottery.
Ed Miliband has said Sir Keir Starmer is
“definitely” a better Labour leader than
him and has denied that the left of the
party is being purged.
Mr Miliband, who has returned to
frontline politics as shadow business
secretary, insisted that Sir Keir was
right to sack Rebecca Long Bailey.
Ms Long Bailey was dismissed for
praising Maxine Peake after the actress
made false claims that Israel’s security
Miliband says Starmer is better Labour leader than him
services had taught US police the choke
hold used on George Floyd. John
McDonnell, former shadow chancellor,
is one of those on the Corbynite left
demanding she be reinstated in the first
big challenge to Sir Keir’s authority.
Mr Miliband said that while he
believed that Ms Long Bailey was a “de-
cent” person, the Labour leader had to
end any lingering doubts about its com-
mitment to address antisemitism.
After a poll showed that Sir Keir had
overtaken Boris Johnson in terms of thepolitician voters think would make the
better prime minister, he said there was
no doubt about the better Labour
leader. Mr Miliband resigned as leader
in 2015 after his party’s crushing
election defeat and returned to the
backbenches during Jeremy Corbyn’s
leadership. Sir Keir made him shadow
business secretary in April.
Asked on The Andrew Marr Show on
BBC One if Sir Keir was “going to be a
better leader than you?” Mr Miliband
said: “Definitely. You’ve seen thatalready.” He laughed as he added:
“Look, I certainly never had his approv-
al ratings. He’s made a great start. He’s
shown not just competence but the
kind of seriousness this crisis demands.
The more people see of him the more
they’ll see the integrity, the principle
and decency I know really well.”
Mr Miliband said he did not think Ms
Long Bailey was antisemitic but made a
“significant error of judgment”.
He said of the sacking: “I don’t think
it was an overreaction.”Francis Elliott Political Editor
Desmond hired PR firm owned by
Tory chief to lobby on lottery law
Louisa Clarence-Smith, George Grylls
Francis Elliott
The disclosures come amid the
furore over the unlawful decision of
Robert Jenrick, the housing secretary,
to approve Mr Desmond’s £1 billion
housing project in east London to help
the billionaire and Tory Party donor
avoid a tax bill of £45 million. That deci-
sion, taken after Mr Desmond lobbied
Mr Jenrick at a Tory fundraising dinner
in November, was against officials’ ad-
vice, according to The Sunday Times.
Ms Patel yesterday repeatedly de-
clined to say whether Mr Johnson and
Mr Desmond had discussed his pro-
posed housing development.
Conservative Campaign Headquar-
ters declined to say who was responsi-
ble for seating Mr Jenrick next to Mr
Desmond at the dinner in the Savoy.
Mr Elliot faces questions over the
affair at a meeting of the Conservative
Party Board due this week as senior To-
ry MPs call for changes to a “tacky”
fundraising effort. Revelations that the
party co-chairman was a director of afirm engaged by Mr Desmond’s com-
pany Northern & Shell will fuel con-
cerns about his links to the party.
Mr Elliot, 44, co-founded Hawthorn
Advisors in 2013 and owns about 20 per
cent of the firm. The Old Etonian, a
nephew of the Duchess of Cornwall, is
known for his powerful connections.
He became co-chairman of the Tories
last July and has said there was no rela-
tionship between No 10 and Hawthorn.
The firm said: “Hawthorn Advisors
worked with Northern & Shell for a brief
period between January and March
2020 on the Health Lottery’s campaign
to increase the jackpot... This was the
extent of Hawthorn’s involvement and
the company had no interaction what-
soever with Northern & Shell before this
time.” The firm said Mr Elliot had no
contact with clients and had stood down
as a director in April, putting his shares
in a trust to avoid a conflict of interest.
The Health Lottery is competing
with Camelot to run the National Lot-tery. Under the law at present, Mr Des-
mond’s business can offer top prizes of
£400,000. There are no limits on the of-
ficially-designated National Lottery.
After government legislation, the
gambling commission said in April that
the maximum jackpot for commercial
lotteries would increase from £400,
to £500,000 next month.
A source close to Ms Patel confirmed
she had met Mr Desmond at events but
said her backing for higher jackpots was
aimed at boosting money for charities.
The Tories faced more scrutiny last
night as The Guardian reported that
property developers linked to projects
approved by Mr Johnson when he was
London mayor have donated almost £
million to the party in the past year. The
Tories said that all donations complied
fully with the law. No 10 told The
Guardian that “any suggestion of im-
proper conduct is untrue”. The Health
Lottery was approached for comment.
Letters, page 24Fawning glory Deer in a field of flax, or linseed, outside Salisbury, Wiltshire. The crop is one of the most versatile, used in everything from health foods to window putty
MARTIN COOK/SWNSSorry, MP tells Rowling
A senior Labour politician has
apologised after accusing JK
Rowling of exploiting her
experience of sexual assault to
“cynically... undermine the rights
of trans people”. Lloyd Russell-
Moyle, a shadow environment
minister, was widely criticised
online for his remarks in Tribune,
a socialist magazine. Rowling said
she accepted his apology.Reading murder charge
A man has been charged with the
murders of three men in a park in
Reading. Khairi Saadallah, 25,
was also charged with the
attempted murders of three
other men in Forbury Gardens on
June 20. He is due to appear at
Westminster magistrates’ court
today. James Furlong, Joseph
Ritchie-Bennett and David Wails
each died of a single stab wound.Fake news ‘pandemic’
The government must deal with a
“pandemic of misinformation”
that poses a threat to democracy,
a report by the Lords committee
on democracy and digital
technologies said. It calls for the
government to publish its Online
Harms Bill to ensure tech giants
such as Facebook and Google are
accountable for misinformation
on their platforms.Murder most popular
The public’s favourite murder
methods have been exposed by
Britbox. The streaming service
owned by ITV and BBC hosts the
detective series Midsomer
Murders and to help subscribers
navigate a 23-year back catalogue
they can select episodes by
murder method. Three favourites
have emerged — bludgeoning,
stabbing and poisoning.Ecclestone ‘not racist’
Bernie Ecclestone, the former
chief executive of Formula One,
has insisted that he is not racist
because he once hired a black
chauffeur, in response to criticism
from the biggest names in motor
racing over comments he made.
Mr Ecclestone, 89, was branded
“ignorant and uneducated” by
Lewis Hamilton, the world
champion. Mr Ecclestone
provoked anger on Friday by
claiming on CNN that black
people were more racist than
white people “in lots of cases”.A A A A D E E E
F G G G I L L N
N O O O O P R R
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