Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has urged party leadership election frontrunner Keir Starmer to publish a list of the donors backing his campaign.
Ahead of a full interview to be published next week, the Islington Gazette released extracts of their conversation with the Labour leader, in which he also said his preferred shadow cabinet position would be in foreign policy, if he was given the option.
Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy have in recent days both released lists of donors who have contributed more than £1,500 to their campaigns, putting pressure on Starmer to do the same.
Asked if Starmer should release details of his donors, Corbyn said: “Yes. I think there always has to be openness in all respects, and when you receive financial support for a political campaign it’s very important to know where it comes from, all of it should be published.
“I published everything in my leadership campaigns.
“The number of high-level, big ticket donors we had was very small, I leave that to others.”
Starmer told ITV’s Robert Peston on Thursday: “There are very strict rules. The Electoral Commission and the Parliamentary rules require you to register all your funding and then to publish it and that’s what we’ve been doing.”
When asked about what shadow cabinet position he’d like to fill, if given the option, Corbyn said: “I think foreign policy actually because I have spent my life on human rights justice and environmental justice issues.
“But that’s not up to me, that’s up to the next leader.
“I will be working on human rights, environmental and social justice whatever position I hold or don’t hold.”
He also told the Gazette that the socialist project he had led since his election in 2015 would continue, with the leadership candidates backing anti-austerity policies, a green industrial revolution, and bringing and end to Universal Credit.
“I’m not disappearing,” he said.