Major Just Stop Oil donor urged to return Covid grants his green power business received while he made large donations to Labour – as frontbencher tries to distance the party from eco-zealots’ ‘unacceptable’ behaviour

A top Just Stop Oil donor is facing pressure to return hundreds of thousands of pounds of Covid aid for his business today, after it emerged he made large donations to Labour during the pandemic.

Millionaire Dale Vince’s Ecotricity business received more than £300,000 in grants from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, it was revealed today.

At the same time the 61-year-old  ploughed £770,000 into Sir Keir Starmer’s party, including a direct donation of £10,000 to his deputy, Angela Rayner. 

A Treasury source told the Telegraph: ‘The point of furlough was to help keep people in work, not allow companies to make donations to Labour.

‘It is obvious Dale Vince’s company didn’t need the support, so he should voluntarily repay the money. Sir Keir Starmer should also ask himself whether this was an appropriate use of furlough funds, and hand the donation back.’

Sir Keir is under pressure over more than £1.5million Labour has received from Mr Vince since 2015, due to his cash for the eco-zealots behind a wave of disruptive protests.

Labour this week announced plans to ban future North Sea oil and gas drilling should it win the general election – which mirrors the main demand of Just Stop Oil.

But shadow pensions minister Nick Thomas-Symonds today denied the cash was influencing party policy, branding JSO’s stunts ‘unacceptable and counter productive’.

Millionaire Dale Vince’s Ecotricity business received more than £300,000 in grants from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, it was revealed today.

At the same time the 61-year-old ploughed £770,000 into Sir Keir Starmer’s party, including a direct donation of £10,000 to his deputy, Angela Rayner.

And Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary, added: ‘Covid support payments were intended to help companies survive. They were not meant to be a covert way of funding political parties. Ecotricity should repay taxpayers urgently and fund its politicking out of its own pocket.’

Mr Vince told the paper: ‘Like hundreds of thousands of other British businesses, we used the Government’s furlough scheme during successive lockdowns, for its purpose – to maintain jobs and ensure we stayed in business. It’s one of the few things this government got right in the pandemic.

‘We have given money to Labour for many years, we did so before the furlough scheme and after it – and we will do so again. I firmly believe only Labour can sort out the mess that successive Tory governments have caused to our country and economy.’

Sir Keir is under pressure over the seven-figure sum received by his party. 

Last night the green group, which has been blocking roads and disrupting major events across the UK, turned its attention to Labour’s position on the Public Order Act, which makes it harder for them to cripple the roads.

Sir Keir has previously backed stiff sentences for protesters blocking roads and the party has not committed to repealing the law if it takes power. 

In a tweet last night Just Stop Oil put pressure on him to change his stance.

‘While the Labour Party and Keir Starmer have at least pledged to stop new oil and gas, they’re still supportive of new, dictator-friendly anti-protest laws,’ it said.

‘We have no confidence in this government or their counterparts in the Labour Party.’

Today, Mr Thomas-Symonds lashed out at the group this morning, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘They are not promoting the cause of tackling climate change. 

‘What they are doing is entirely counter-productive and the only debate it is provoking is about our public order laws.’  

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