Conservatives given millions by property developers

Dozens of property firms have given a total of £3.3 million to the party over the past three years, including large gifts from companies seeking to develop rural land.

Developers are also paying thousands of pounds for access to senior Tories through the Conservative Property Forum, a club of elite donors which sets up “breakfast meetings” to discuss planning and property issues.

The disclosures are likely to provoke a new “cash-for-access” row and will give rise to fears that planning policies could have been influenced by powerful figures from the property industry.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/hands-off-our-land/8754027/Conservatives-given-millions-by-property-developers.html

Imagine the look of shock on my face.

All the government ministers pushing through a controversial relaxation of planning regulations have opposed developments in their own constituencies, including new housing and businesses, a care home for elderly people and a memorial to Princess Diana.

The Guardian revelations leave the chancellor, George Osborne, and Eric Pickles and his ministers in the Department for Communities and Local Government accused of "breathtaking hypocrisy" for saying major changes to planning laws are vital to boost economic growth and ease the shortage of homes, while fighting such developments in their own backyards.

In August 2010, Osborne was the first of 25,000 people to sign a petition against an energy-from-waste plant in his Cheshire constituency, despite having described the company Brunner Mond as an "important local employer". He is also honorary president of a campaign against a second local incinerator. Pickles, the secretary of state for communities and local government, also campaigned against a waste facility, a composting site at Stondon Massey in his Essex constituency, saying approval would "open the doors for our county to become the waste dump for the south-east".

In addition, he successfully opposed a residential care home for 114 elderly people in Pilgrims Hatch in 2003, saying it would be a "heavy burden" on local services.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/sep/09/ministers-hypocrisy-over-planning-regulations

You'll be telling me next that private healthcare firms donate to the Tories.

Slap their little wrists!

The Skin

It had NEVER occurred to me in my life that Tories might have somewhat dodgy connections with property developers.

(She faints...)

Ugh, anyway!