Watson should consider returning Mosley donation, McDonnell suggests

John McDonnell has suggested that his shadow cabinet colleague, Tom Watson, should consider whether to return half a million pounds in donations from Max Mosley, the disgraced racing tycoon and privacy campaigner.

The shadow chancellor told Sky News that Labour’s deputy leader ought to think hard about his “relationship with Max Mosley and the finances as well, because if he is reiterating his views from the past he clearly hasn’t changed”.

Watson, who is also shadow culture, media and sports secretary, has been under intense pressure over the issue since the Daily Mail uncovered a 1960s leaflet linking immigrants with disease that described the former FIA motorsport boss as its publisher.

The pamphlet, backing a candidate of the far-right Union Movement, which was founded by Max’s father, Sir Oswald Mosley, claimed that “coloured immigration threatens your children’s health”, listing “tuberculosis, VD and other terrible diseases, such as leprosy”.

The Labour party made clear that it would not accept any more donations from Mosley since the revelation, but backed its deputy leader’s decision not to return the £540,000 already paid.

Watson defended the move by claiming that Mosley no longer held the same views that had been expressed 57 years ago, and praised his work campaigning for better regulation of the press, on which the pair have worked closely together.

However, McDonnell took a stronger position when asked about a recent Guardian interview in which Mosley said it was “perfectly legitimate to offer immigrants financial inducements to go home”.

Watson later said: “I have spoken to Max and it could not be any clearer that he categorically does not believe immigrants should be offered financial inducements to leave the UK.”

Source: theguardian