Responding on Mr Johnson’s behalf on Friday, Lord True insisted that the legislation “closes loopholes on foreign spending – making it harder for shadowy third parties to spend money campaigning at UK elections.”
In the letter, seen by The Telegraph, the Cabinet Office minister added: “I note that rather than supporting British expats’ rights to vote, the Labour Party want to give full voting rights to all foreigners who live in Britain. The Labour Government in Wales has already done this in relation to the franchise for local and devolved elections. The Scottish Government has done the same in Scotland.
“This has given foreign Russian citizens resident in Wales and Scotland the right to make unlimited donations to the Labour Party and the SNP. Labour’s Shadow Minister in the Lords has now tabled an amendment to Election Bills that would grant all foreign nationals with leave to enter or remain the right to vote in all local and Parliamentary elections in the United Kingdom – and therefore donate.”
Lord True continued: “It is the Labour Party which would open the gates to a flood of foreign citizen money into British politics.”
Until recently, the only people who could register to vote and therefore also donate to UK political parties were UK, Commonwealth or EU citizens who live in the UK.
However, under changes that took effect in Scotland in 2020 and are due to take effect in Wales in May, voting eligibility for local elections, as well as for the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament, has been extended to any foreign nationals who are legally resident in each nation.
That means that foreign nationals resident in each nation can also donate to UK political parties.
Labour dismisses claims as ‘nonsense’
A Labour spokesman described Lord True’s claims as “nonsense”, insisting that it was the Conservatives that had “accepted millions of pounds from Russian-linked donors”.
The Elections Bill “will allow even more foreign money to flow into our system,” the spokesman insisted.
“Labour put forward proposals that would put a stop to foreign money flooding in from overseas and has called for this bill to be scrapped in it’s entirety.”
An SNP spokesman said: “The Tories are the only political party to accept donations from people who have ties to the Kremlin.”
