Labour MPs attack party’s McDonald’s conference stand ban

McDonald’s has been blocked from purchasing exhibition space at Labour’s annual conference, following a ruling by an NEC sub-committee.

The decision was taken due to the company’s record on workers’ rights and trade union representation, according an NEC source.

However, some Labour figures have raised concerns that the ruling risks making the party appear snobbish towards the popular fast food chain, while others have said that the position is not being applied properly to all companies.

Labour rejected the £30,000 proposal from McDonald’s, which involved setting up an “interactive experience” to promote supporting British farm produce at the party’s annual conference in Liverpool this September. A source told LabourList that the decision was “nothing to do with health or meat”, despite consternation about how the ruling body committee came to ban the company.

Several Labour MPs, including former McDonald’s employees Wes Streeting and Ian Austin, have suggested that the move represents a “snobby attitude” to the popular brand.

Streeting said he was “exasperated that we should throw away £30,000 worth of sponsorship like this. It smacks of a snobby attitude towards fast food restaurants and people who work or eat at them.”

Writing on Twitter, Austin added:

LabourList understands that while the full NEC has not discussed the McDonald’s case, the broader topic of accepting money from businesses with poor records on workers’ rights has been raised at recent meetings. Specifically, concerns have been raised about accepting sponsorship from a construction company which practised blacklisting. As that issue appears unresolved, it has led to some private unhappiness at the apparent lack of consistency in applying these bans.