THE Conservative Party is auctioning off dinner dates with senior Cabinet members for £4000, it has emerged.
Emails, seen by the Daily Mirror, show party donors have been offered the chance to dine with ministers at the Business Leaders' Dinner, which is taking place in Manchester during the Conservative conference.
Tickets for the event start from £400, but a “table of 10 plus a senior minister" is on sale to donors for £4000.
The email reads: "If this is something you wish to go ahead with, I can arrange an invoice and send you further details – a document will be circulated where you can place your preference of senior minister to host your table."
Both Labour and the SNP say the revelations are further evidence of Tory “sleaze”.
The SNP’s deputy Westminster leader, Kirsten Oswald described the report as “the latest in a long list of examples of the cash for access dominating this broken Tory government”.
She added: “Whether it’s been handing out lucrative Covid contracts to friends and contacts, stuffing the House of Lords with cronies, giving a Tory donor a peerage and appointing him to the Scotland Office, or cash for access, it’s obvious that this Tory government is driven entirely by cronyism, self-interest, and sleaze.
“The Tories must come clean and set out which government ministers will be around those tables and what will be discussed.
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“Westminster is broken beyond repair. The only way to properly protect our interests is to become an independent country.”
According to the Mirror, donors are asked to select a shortlist of five senior Tory ministers who they would like to sit with at the business bash.
The party stated "choices cannot be guaranteed; however we will always try our best to accommodate."
Labour chair Anneliese Dodds commented: "This is another outrageous example of the cash for access culture at the top of the Conservative Party.
“We need to know which donors are paying top whack for this privilege, which senior ministers will be sitting down with them, and what they intend to discuss.
“There cannot be one rule for senior Conservatives and another rule for everyone else.”
A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “This event is an important opportunity to engage directly with businesses and to highlight how we continue to back business and enterprise as we build back stronger from the pandemic.
“All political parties hold business events at their conferences, and we have been holding such events at our conference for decades.”
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