Local Lib Dems should return £21,000 of political donations received from the night club the Ministry of Sound, and an ethical donations policy put in place, says Green Party London Assembly Candidate Jonathan Bartley.
The call follows the latest revelations in the unfolding story about the legal advice Lib Dem councillors received.
A BBC investigation which uncovered that political donations to the Lib Dems from the nightclub chain totalling almost £80,000 went undeclared as its councillors discussed a tower block development opposed by the firm.
It has emerged this morning that local Lib Dems were warned in legal advice:
a) Of the risk that they would bring themselves into disrepute
b) Of the risk that they would breach rules against using their position improperly to advantage themselves
c) That they should ask themselves whether they really could approach the issue with an open mind
d) That they should ask themselves whether they could judge the issues on its own merits, apart from the funding they received
It also suggested they consider whether they could ‘legitimately’ take part in the committee at all, and that they should consider standing down.
The Ministry of Sound, in Elephant and Castle, south London, was fighting to prevent developer Oakmayne building a residential tower block nearby.
The club feared noise complaints from the completed tower block would eventually lead to its closure.
But none of the four Liberal Democrat politicians who rejected the application declared that the party locally had been in receipt of donations from the nightclub – £21,000 at local level.
Jonathan Bartley, Green Party candidate for Lambeth and Southwark, said: "It beggars belief that having received this clear legal advice, the Lib Dem councillors did not declare this financial interest to the Committee. This is a huge error of judgement.
"The issue here is not whether Lib Dems acted within the rules or not, or even whether you agree with the planning decision that they made. It’s about residents in Southwark having confidence that their councillors are acting in their best interests, and deciding planning applications on their merits.
"£21,000 is a huge donation for a local party to receive from one donor. The Lib Dems should return it and draw up an ethical donations policy to restore trust.
"Local people must have confidence that the decisions made by local councillors are made on the merits of individual cases, and that they are not being influenced by political donations. The Lib Dems should return the £21,000 that they have received, they should adopt an ethical donations policy, and the decision-making process should be re-run."