Union boss Len McCluskey took private jet flights arranged by building firm, report finds

Joe PikePolitical correspondentGetty ImagesFormer Unite boss Len McCluskey loved personal jet flights and soccer tickets organized by the agency constructing a multi-million pound lodge for the union, in response to an inside report seen by the BBC.Flanagan Group, which is run by pals of Mr McCluskey, overcharged Unite by no less than £30m for the Birmingham lodge and convention centre challenge, the Unite report says.It additionally discovered Mr McCluskey “overruled” recommendation from employees and the union’s attorneys in signing the development contract with Flanagan Group.Unite’s report stated the personal jet flights and soccer tickets had been “persistently organised and paid for by” the Flanagan Group and there’s “no indication” Mr McCluskey later reimbursed them.Mr McCluskey’s attorneys informed the BBC he paid for his personal journey in full, and, to his recollection, all the time paid the price of his soccer tickets.He denied he had overruled employees or attorneys. The Flanagan Group didn’t reply to repeated requests for remark.The 4 star lodge and convention centre is in Birmingham metropolis centre Earlier than he retired in 2021, Mr McCluskey was some of the highly effective figures within the commerce union motion and a number one backer of Jeremy Corbyn, throughout his time as Labour chief. He stays an influential determine on the left of British politics.He was an enthusiastic supporter of the Unite lodge challenge, which was meant to be a monetary funding for the union’s members, in addition to a venue for its conferences.Nevertheless it ran massively over price range and has been mired in controversy, with the Severe Fraud Workplace final yr launching an investigation into it.When Sharon Graham took over from Mr McCluskey as Unite’s normal secretary, she launched a sequence of inside inquiries after discovering obvious discrepancies within the union’s accounts.Unite’s auditors discovered the union spent as a lot as £125m on the lodge and convention centre improvement, which has since been valued at simply £38m.Sharon Graham was elected normal secretary of Unite in 2021″I used to be completely astounded,” Ms Graham informed the BBC. “I might really feel the pit of my abdomen drop, pondering what has gone on right here?”There is no strategy to fake that truly it was a whoopsie-daisy second… It is both rank incompetence, or it is one thing else.”Ms Graham commissioned a specialist development lawyer, Martin Bowdery KC, to analyze the challenge’s prices and accounts.The BBC has seen a abstract of Bowdery’s report, which has been offered to the union’s government council.The report says:The union spent “no less than” £72m greater than the lodge complicated is worthUnite awarded Flanagan Group the contract to construct the lodge with “no aggressive tendering course of” and regardless of the agency “having a historical past of poor efficiency, delays… and price overruns on earlier contracts”Mr McCluskey described the agency’s bosses as “good pals”Mr McCluskey’s attorneys stated he was unaware of the considerations of employees or union attorneys on the time the development contract was signed, doesn’t recall signing the principal contract, and was not concerned within the choice to pick Flanagan Group. His attorneys have stated he categorically rejects any suggestion of improper dealings.The Flanagan Group didn’t reply to repeated requests for remark however has beforehand informed the BBC it was “proud” of its work on the scheme and prices had risen as a consequence of “radical adjustments to design and dealing practices”.Tickets and flightsGetty ImagesA Falcon 900B enterprise jet just like the one Mr McCluskey is alleged to have usedMr McCluskey acquired personal jet flights to observe the staff he helps, Liverpool FC, play within the 2018 and 2019 Champions League finals in Kyiv and Madrid, in response to Unite’s report.Sources have informed the BBC that on one event he travelled on a Falcon 900B enterprise jet.The aircraft’s house owners stated it supplied passengers “tremendous dimension consolation” together with “8 leather-based membership seats, a full dimension mattress, absolutely stocked galley and cabin sound system”.Aviation firm International Constitution has estimated the return journey would have price between £40,000 and £47,500.Unite’s report additionally claims that Mr McCluskey acquired tickets for 5 Liverpool FC video games within the UK, 4 of which included matchday hospitality.It stated “the proof for this comes from tickets and flight data despatched to Len McCluskey’s Unite e-mail”.Mr McCluskey’s attorneys stated he paid for his journey in full and recalled travelling with a industrial provider on one of many flights.They stated he often attended soccer matches with the Flanagans however invariably paid his manner and doesn’t consider he even attended the entire home matches as claimed by Unite’s report.There isn’t any suggestion Mr McCluskey breached Unite’s items or hospitality guidelines as a result of there was no such coverage. Sharon Graham has since launched a items and hospitality coverage.She has additionally recruited a brand new finance director and procurement officers as a part of what she calls her “clear up” effort.”Possibly it took a lady to do it”, she stated. “And now I’ve uncovered it, I will make it possible for it by no means occurs once more.”Ms Graham can also be trying to get again among the hundreds of thousands spent on the lodge. “As a result of that is members’ cash, I count on it again within the union”, she stated. “And I will do every thing in my energy to make it possible for occurs.”Ballooning costsInitial estimates for the lodge challenge in 2012 urged it might price round £7m. However the scale of the union’s ambitions grew underneath Mr McCluskey’s time as normal secretary, from 2011 to 2021, and the development invoice ballooned.In the long run, Flanagan Group was paid a complete of £96m for its work on the 4 star lodge and convention centre, which opened for enterprise in 2021.In his report, Bowdery stated £30m of that was overcharging and the corporate submitted payments “massively over the unique estimates”.In a single occasion it’s claimed the corporate billed £1.3m for work which ought to have price £90,000.The Flanagan Group was additionally paid £3.7m for adversarial climate delays regardless that the corporate was “not entitled to further funds for adversarial climate,” the report states.The corporate has not responded to requests for remark, but it surely has beforehand stated: “We wish to make it clear that this scheme was delivered pretty and needs to be considered an distinctive asset for the union.”Unionised labourTrinity MirrorBuilding agency director Paul Flanagan and Len McCluskey on the unveiling of a portray in Liverpool in 2014Len McCluskey and Flanagan Group have beforehand stated price overruns had been partly as a result of lodge challenge utilizing unionised labour.The development trade is thought for utilizing freelance employees who aren’t immediately employed and never represented by trades unions.However the Bowdery report stated: “There isn’t any precise monetary proof of any price improve brought on by this.”It added that it was not clear Flanagans complied with Unite’s union labour contracting necessities and “refused to offer data to verify union labour” was used.Emails forwarded or copied to Mr McCluskey in 2017 stated the “overwhelming majority of the workforce” weren’t on union agreements.Mr McCluskey’s attorneys stated he didn’t keep in mind the emails however any credible suggestion of non-unionised labour would have been duly addressed.Who signed the contract?The report stated it was “exceptional” there was no documentation exhibiting who determined to nominate Flanagans.It additionally states that Mr McCluskey informed the inquiry that the choice had been made by Unite’s former finance director Ed Sabisky.This contradicts proof to the inquiry from a Unite official who stated Sabisky was “100% towards” participating Flanagan Group however that he was overruled by Mr McCluskey.Ed Sabisky died in March 2020 after struggling a stroke so the BBC is unable to confirm this account.The Bowdery report stated Mr McCluskey signed the principle lodge contract. His attorneys informed the BBC he doesn’t recall signing it.