Conservative Party took £1.3m from group linked to destruction of Palestinian villages

The Tories took more than £1m from a British construction giant and its directors after the UN linked it to the destruction of Palestinian villages.

Digger firm JCB was one of 122 firms identified in a UN report four years ago after photos showed its machinery being used to build Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The company, officially JC Bamford Excavators Ltd, was accused of being “involved” in the “supply of equipment and materials” that facilitated the construction of settlements.

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Now analysis by openDemocracy shows that, since the UN report was published, the Conservative Party has accepted more than £1.3m from JCB and the Bamford family, which runs the company. This includes almost £218,000 from JCB companies, and £983,000 from Mark Bamford, one of the directors of JC Bamford Excavators Ltd.

A further £100,000 was given by the company’s chair, Anthony Bamford, who is a Conservative peer.

Most recently, J C Bamford Excavators Ltd gave £40,000 to Conservative MP Simon Clarke, to “fund the employment of a campaign manager”.

JCB has rejected claims that it contributes to human rights abuses in the West Bank. But both a UK trade watchdog and the director of the UK charity Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights say JCB is failing to do due diligence on who buys and uses its kit.

‘Key supplier’

JCB has long faced allegations over its links to settlements in the West Bank: the Israeli military has been photographed using its bulldozers to demolish Palestinian homes since at least 2006.

Amnesty International describes the company as a “key supplier of machinery used in this systematic violation of human rights,” adding that it has “failed to take effective action”.

Responding to openDemocracy’s findings, Amnesty's UK economic affairs director Peter Frankental said any political donations from JCB “must come with an enormous health warning”.

“Under international human rights standards for business, JCB has a clear responsibility to take measures to ensure its goods are not used in the commission of human rights violations. For years we’ve been saying there should be serious consequences for JCB if it failed to take measures to prevent its goods being misused overseas.”

He added: “The Conservative Party should urgently review all further donations from JCB until it can be shown that the company has taken reasonable steps to stop its equipment being used to unlawfully demolish Palestinian homes in the Occupied Territories.”

Neither JCB nor the Conservative Party responded to openDemocracy’s requests for comment…

At openDemocracy our Who Funds You? project monitors the financial disclosures of more than 60 UK think tanks. We give each one a rating of A-E, so that people can find out which think tanks are open about their funding.

Since publishing our latest report two think tanks have improved their ratings. One of the UK’s most influential think tanks, The Institute for Fiscal Studies, has moved from a Grade B to a Grade A.

Bright Blue, an independent liberal conservative think tank has move from a Grade D to a Grade C.

We believe that organisations that seek to influence public policy should be open about their finances. So we're always delighted when think tanks engage with the project positively and seek advice on what they should do to achieve a better grade.

Here are some recent dark money stories from other outlets which have caught our eyes and raised our eyebrows.

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