Britain’s Labour party has been plunged into a corruption scandal after a businessman with close ties to the party was secretly recorded demanding a £2 million ($2.68 million) bribe from property developers seeking to build one of Britain’s tallest skyscrapers, Yahoo reported. In the recording—obtained by The Sunday Times—the businessman claimed he was acting on behalf of Labour politicians who could guarantee planning permission for the proposed £500 million development in the Isle of Dogs, east London. He was introduced by Shiria Khatun, a deputy mayor of Labour-controlled Tower Hamlets council, as someone who could assist with planning. He later sent a contract to the developers setting out the illicit deal in which he would “deliver planning approval” from Tower Hamlets at a “premium of £2,000,000”. Four Labour politicians would be given “half a million” each, he claimed. The revelations come as Labour is attempting to clean up politics in the borough following the sacking of disgraced independent mayor Lutfur Rahman, who was found guilty of election fraud two years ago, shortly before the secret recording was made.
