Millionaire Labour donor to match public donations to Just Stop Oil

One of Labour’s biggest financial supporters has pledged to match any donations to Just Stop Oil in the next 48 hours.

Dale Vince, a green energy entrepreneur, said the public should donate to the “brave people who are currently slow marching, causing disruption and risking their freedom”, amid calls for Sir Keir Starmer to distance himself from the group.

Mr Vince has donated more than £1.5 million to Labour and said on Wednesday that he had spoken to Sir Keir, the party’s leader, “last week on the phone”.

The Conservatives have accused Labour of being “in bed” with Just Stop Oil and called for Sir Keir to return any donations from Mr Vince’s company.

In an email to Just Stop Oil supporters on Wednesday morning, the founder of the green energy firm Ecotricity said he would double any donations “pound for pound”.

“There is no better time to make a financial contribution,” he said.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday, a shadow cabinet minister said it was “perfectly legitimate” for Labour to accept donations from Mr Vince, despite his association with the protest group.

Nick Thomas-Symonds said his party has been “extremely clear on our views on Just Stop Oil” and that Mr Vince is perfectly entitled to “give money to other causes”.

“If he wishes to give money to other causes that’s up to him, but it can hardly be said that this affects our views as a Labour Party on Just Stop Oil,” he said.

In Mr Vince’s email to Just Stop Oil supporters, he said: “I was on the front page of Monday’s Daily Mail and Radio 4 this morning for supporting Just Stop Oil, like that’s a crime or something.

“Along with thousands of others, I am proud to donate vital funds to the cause.

“I’m inviting you to join me in supporting the brave people who are currently slow marching, causing disruption and risking their freedom to save us from the climate crisis.

“If you give a donation in the next 48 hours I will match it, pound for pound.

“Winning this argument is all that matters.

“The ordinary people powering Just Stop Oil need our support to keep on doing what they are doing so effectively - and ultimately bring about the change we all demand.”

His email said that a £10 donation will pay for a high-visibility jacket for a protester, £50 will buy a second-hand smartphone “to film a slow march” and £100 “can buy the banners needed to send our message loud and clear”.

Just Stop Oil has brought roads to a standstill across the UK in recent weeks with “slow marching” protests that police have often been powerless to prevent.

The group has also disrupted major events including football matches, the World Snooker Championship and the Chelsea Flower Show.

Labour has been accused of allowing the eco tycoon to dictate its policy on energy issues, after it pledged to halt all new oil and gas drilling licences if it wins the next election.

Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, has said Labour is “in bed” with Just Stop Oil, while Greg Hands, the Tory chairman, has called for Sir Keir to return the money.

On Wednesday, Mr Hands wrote to Anneliese Dodds, the Labour chairman, to “raise further concerns about the Labour Party’s relationship with the extremist organisation Just Stop Oil” and accuse the party of an “ideological vendetta against British energy independence”.

He added: “If you do not return this protest money the public will naturally assume that Labour and Just Stop Oil’s goals are one and the same.”

Speaking to the same programme, Mr Vince defended his contributions and revealed he had spoken to the Labour leader twice on the phone.

“I think it is a desperate stretch for the Right-wing press and Tory MPs actually to be saying there’s a link here, that this money should be given back,” he said.

“The money is not dodgy. I’m not dodgy. It’s all tax paid. I am completely transparent.”

He insisted there is “no link” between the money he donated to Labour and its policy on oil and gas.

The Telegraph understands that Mr Vince and Sir Keir did not discuss the policy in their discussion last week.

It comes after The Telegraph revealed that Mr Vince received £309,000 in furlough money during the pandemic. In the same period, he donated £770,000 to Labour.

Treasury sources said he should repay the public money if he did not need it to keep his business afloat.

“The point of furlough was to help keep people in work, not allow companies to make donations to Labour,” one said.

“It is obvious Dale Vince’s company didn’t need the support, so he should voluntarily repay the money.”