KPMG: just one of the ‘Big Four’ consultancies on which both Labour and the Tories rely.

Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has quadrupled its use of consultants from the so-called Big Four firms – who also advise the Conservatives.

Have a think about that.

It seems,

The opposition party received £287,000 in donations of staff time from consultancy firms in the year to September 2023, up from £72,000 in the prior 12 months, according to Electoral Commission data.

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Meanwhile,

Government expenditure on consultants in core departments, including the Home Office and Ministry of Defence, rose 130 per cent to £723mn between 2018-19 and 2021-22, the Financial Times previously reported.

Oh, and

Labour under Ed Miliband received a total of £767,000 worth of donated staff time from PwC, Deloitte and KPMG in 2014, the highest figure for Labour since 2001.

Under Jeremy Corbyn, Labour stopped the practice and no donations from consultants were recorded between 2016 and 2020.

The Tories in 2009, when they were in opposition, accepted nearly £600,000 in staff time from groups including EY, PwC and KPMG. The party last accepted significant donations of consultant staff time in 2010.

Here’s the issue:

Corporations have their own political agenda; they can’t help it, it is informed by the politics of their bosses. If political parties are employing the same corporate consultants, then their policies are likely to mirror those of their employees.

That’s what economist Richard Murphy thinks:

Murphy said the practice of offering staff time for free gave consultancies an opportunity to gain “influence, access, phone numbers and a competitive advantage”.

See?

Starmer’s Labour won’t have it, of course:

Dame Meg Hillier, Labour chair of the House of Commons public accounts committee, said it was “completely right” that opposition parties preparing for government would use external consultants with “the right skills and expertise at their fingertips”.

“One thing that the Big Four do have is expertise in crunching numbers. It doesn’t mean they are carrying out a sales pitch to the party at the same time,” Hillier added.

And the companies themselves won’t admit any kind of manipulation. Here’s the official word from PwC:

“We have no political affiliation and don’t develop policy on their behalf.”