Former Unite leader received flights and hospitality by building firm


Len McCluskey accepted flights on a jet provided by a construction company.

Sharon Graham, McCluskey’s successor, conducted an investigation called ‘Project Clean Up.’ She found that McCluskey had accepted tickets and taken flights to the Champions League Finals in 2018 and 2019.

The investigation revealed that the building company had overcharged by at least PS30,000,000 the union for a multimillion-pound hotel and conference center in Birmingham.

The investigation report concluded that McCluskey did not reimburse the company for flights and football tickets.

Graham’s message to union representatives and members in the report reads: “I promised at the time of election that I would do everything I could to find the truth, and I have.

An independent investigation by KC Martin Bowdery was conducted into the Birmingham Hotel Project. The investigation was followed by two independent reports; an investigation into possible criminality and an investigation by an expert team of forensic accounting.

The union had spent up to 125 million PS on the project, but it is now only worth 38 million PS.

Graham said: “It’s clear that the relationship between the contractor and the union leadership has played a major role in the investigation.

The police will decide whether or not the activities are criminal. What is clear is that money has left our union that shouldn’t have and money that should have been coming into the union didn’t.

McCluskey’s attorneys have denied any allegations of improper dealings.

He retired from his position as union leader in the year 2021. Unite, with over 1.2 million members, is one of UK’s biggest trade unions.

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