The Labour Party returned £15,000 paid by a charity after the donation was found to be in breach of the law.

The Charity Commission had expressed “serious concern”. Charities are banned from financially supporting political parties. Last week Greg Clark, the Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, had complained about the payment.

Catz Club provides childcare, breakfast, after-school and holiday clubs under the name Schoolfriendetc. The commission found that Catz Club made a £7,500 donation to Labour in June, and also paid £7,500 to attend a dinner at which, the charity said, it “lobbied politicians to encourage funding for after-school childcare facilities”. The charity said that the donation was an administrative error and should have been channelled through its trading subsidiary Catz Club Services Ltd. The commission said that this was also not permissible and the gift was in breach of charity law.

Although the concerns related only to the donation, the charity decided to ask for all the money to be returned, which Labour agreed to. The party said: “The Electoral Commission confirmed that [it] did nothing wrong in accepting this donation.”

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