Gabrielle Wilde
Guest Reporter
Conservative MP Joy Morrissey has demanded answers from Labour's Ed Miliband over allegations he failed to declare donations linked to a recent climate envoy appointment.
Speaking to GB News, Morrissey called for clarity on the declaration of a £4million donation to Labour from Quadrature Capital.
She said: "It's just a simple matter of there was a donation of £4million to the Labour Party by Quadrillion Capital, and then there was a £99,000 donation to Ed Miliband.
"All of those donations are involved with the same sort of links to organisations that are linked to his climate envoy. And it's very simple. The ministerial code is very clear. You should declare any conflicts of interest and you should declare those donations before the appointment happens.
"All I've asked is a simple yes or no question. Did he declare those donations? I have had no response.
"I've just had evasion and so I'm just asking again, yes or no? You could be a trailblazer and refer yourself because, he was always calling for us to resign every five seconds and taking the moral high ground.
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"He can take the moral high ground again by referring himself to the adviser on parliamentary standards."
She added: "You could argue very strongly that the money donated and the amount, this climate envoy person working for this organisation, as well as the private donation to Ed Miliband, is worth declaring prior to her appointment."
Last month Miliband strongly rejected the allegations in his Commons response.
"All the proper processes were followed by the Foreign Office, who were in charge of the employment," the Energy Secretary stated.
He accused the Conservative Party of making unfounded attacks on a respected appointee.
"Rachel Kyte is an esteemed person, who is recognised for her leadership, and all they can do is fling around baseless allegations," Miliband said.
A spokesperson for the Green Finance Institute clarified their role, stating they are "an independent non-partisan organisation" that has not made monetary donations to any political party.
The Institute explained their £99,000 services in kind to Labour were for leading the Secretariat for the National Wealth Fund Taskforce.
"Under parliamentary rules, the time that we allocated to the Secretariat had to be reported as a donation, but this was a technical financial recognition of our staff costs," the spokesperson said.
The appointment comes after the climate envoy position was previously eliminated by Rishi Sunak's government in 2023, following Nick Bridge's departure.
The vacancy left the UK as one of the only major economic powers without a specialist envoy at the Cop28 summit in November.
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Speaking to GB News, Morrissey called for clarity on the declaration of a £4million donation to Labour from Quadrature Capital.
She said: "It's just a simple matter of there was a donation of £4million to the Labour Party by Quadrillion Capital, and then there was a £99,000 donation to Ed Miliband.
"All of those donations are involved with the same sort of links to organisations that are linked to his climate envoy. And it's very simple. The ministerial code is very clear. You should declare any conflicts of interest and you should declare those donations before the appointment happens.
"All I've asked is a simple yes or no question. Did he declare those donations? I have had no response.
"I've just had evasion and so I'm just asking again, yes or no? You could be a trailblazer and refer yourself because, he was always calling for us to resign every five seconds and taking the moral high ground.
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"He can take the moral high ground again by referring himself to the adviser on parliamentary standards."
She added: "You could argue very strongly that the money donated and the amount, this climate envoy person working for this organisation, as well as the private donation to Ed Miliband, is worth declaring prior to her appointment."
Last month Miliband strongly rejected the allegations in his Commons response.
"All the proper processes were followed by the Foreign Office, who were in charge of the employment," the Energy Secretary stated.
He accused the Conservative Party of making unfounded attacks on a respected appointee.
"Rachel Kyte is an esteemed person, who is recognised for her leadership, and all they can do is fling around baseless allegations," Miliband said.
A spokesperson for the Green Finance Institute clarified their role, stating they are "an independent non-partisan organisation" that has not made monetary donations to any political party.
The Institute explained their £99,000 services in kind to Labour were for leading the Secretariat for the National Wealth Fund Taskforce.
"Under parliamentary rules, the time that we allocated to the Secretariat had to be reported as a donation, but this was a technical financial recognition of our staff costs," the spokesperson said.
The appointment comes after the climate envoy position was previously eliminated by Rishi Sunak's government in 2023, following Nick Bridge's departure.
The vacancy left the UK as one of the only major economic powers without a specialist envoy at the Cop28 summit in November.
Find Out More...