Former Unite union boss Len McCluskey accepted private jet flights and football tickets from a contracted building firm, a report has found.
Dubbed Project Clean Up, a newly released interim report has looked into historical allegations of corruption in the Unite union. Newly appointed general secretary Sharon Graham launched the new inquiry into the project in 2021. Martin Bowdery KC carried out an independent legal report into the company.
The interim report has been redacted and is pending ongoing police enquiries. However, in evidence seen by the BBC, Flanagan Group, a firm contracted for the building of Unite’s multimillion-pound hotel in Birmingham, arranged tickets and flights for the union boss and overcharged the union for the project.
The group appears to be run by friends of McCluskey, according to the report.
The private jet flights and football tickets were “consistently paid for by” the Flanagan Group, with no indication that McCluskey reimbursed them.
The gratuities included private jet flights to watch Liverpool FC in the 2018 and 2019 Champion League finals in Kyiv and Madrid, as well as domestic tickets to Liverpool FC games. Some of these tickets included hospitality.
Sources told the BBC that McCluskey travelled on a Falcon 900B jet on one occasion; a business jet with “eight leather club seats, a full size bed, fully stocked galley, and sound system.”
It is estimated that the return trip would have cost between £40,000 and £47,000, according to aviation firm Global Charter.
McCluskey’s lawyers told the BBC that travel was paid for in full by McCluskey, and to his recollection, so were the football tickets.
There is no suggestion McCluskey broke gifts and hospitality rules as there was no such policy at Unite at the time.
A backer of Jeremy Corbyn and an influential figure of left-wing politics, McCluskey has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Unite hotel project which was launched as an investment for union members.
The process also found that the union paid at least £110 million for the project, but the valuation of the project was only worth £37.5 million.
In one instance, it is claimed Flanagan Group charged £1.3 million for work which should have cost £90,000.
The company was also paid £3.7 million for adverse weather delays even thought it was not necessarily entitled to such payments.
In addition, it was handed the building contract “with no competitive tendering process” and despite the firm having a “history of poor performance, delays… and cost overruns on previous contracts.”
The Flanagan Group did not respond to requests for comment, but has previously told the BBC that it was “proud” of its work on the project and that costs had risen due to “radical changes to design and working practices.”
It said previously: “We would like to make it clear that this scheme was delivered fairly and should be regarded as an exceptional asset for the union.”
However, the project has run massively over budget, with the Serious Fraud Office having launched an investigation into it last year.
Previously, McCluskey and Flanagan Group have blamed cost overruns on unionised labour. But the report said there is no financial evidence of any cost increase caused by this.
Furthermore, it is not clear if union labour was used, with emails forwarded to McCluskey and seen by the BBC reading that “the vast majority of the workforce” were not on union agreements.
McCluskey’s lawyers said he had no memory of the emails, but any suggestion of non-unionised labour would have been duly addressed.
There was also no documentation to show who appointed the Flanagan Group. McCluskey told the inquiry that the decision had been made by former finance director Ed Sabisky.
However, evidence to the inquiry from a Unite official suggests that Sabisky was against engaging the Flanagan Group.
Sabisky died in March 2020 so verification of this account is not possible. McCluskey’s lawyers said McCluskey does not recall signing the contract, though the Bowdery report said he did.
Sharon Graham said: “When I was elected, I pledged to uncover the truth about allegations of historical corruption, particularly in relation to the Birmingham Hotel and Conference Centre. Today I have delivered on that promise. Getting to the truth has been ugly, with those with much to lose and different agendas using abhorrent tactics, in order to frustrate and divert the process. These tactics did not work.
“Regardless of where the ongoing police inquiries lead, the independent investigations are clear: money left our union when it should not have. And other money that should have come into the union did not. I make our members this promise: I will do everything in my power to get our money back.
“Creating transparency through the publication of this report is only the start. We need to ensure that this can never happen again. Looking to the future, Unite is in a very strong financial position. Our substantial resource going forward will be focused on the frontline, the workplace, strike pay, opening offices, and defending workers.”
The Standard has attempted to contact Mr McCluskey’s representatives for comment.
