Well, well, well. For all Labour’s high-minded talk of morality, one of its MPs has been suspended pending an investigation into whether he tried to dodge repaying a taxpayer-funded Covid loan.
Bayo Alaba, the MP for Southend East and Rochford, refused to answer questions from The Times about why he appears to have attempted to wind up one of his businesses before settling a government loan issued during the pandemic. After the newspaper approached him for comment, Labour withdrew the whip. Oh dear…
A party spokesman said: ‘Bayo Alaba MP has referred himself to the Labour Party so that these matters can be investigated in line with the party’s rules. The Labour Party expects the highest standards from our elected representatives and we have robust processes in place to ensure those high standards are upheld. We cannot comment further while the investigation is ongoing.’
In the build-up to the general election, Alaba was one of several wannabe MPs lauded by Labour for his military credentials. He previously served as a paratrooper, but it is his post-army career running music and nightlife businesses that has now come under scrutiny.
Alaba remains a co-owner of Alaba Properties Ltd, which appears to have taken out a Bounce Back Loan during the pandemic. Companies House records show that an application was made to wind up the firm in March 2022 – something permitted only when a company has no outstanding debts.
The government’s own Covid fraud tsar warned in December that circa 70,000 businesses with outstanding loans had since been forced either to repay them or withdraw applications to dissolve. Many of those firms, the tsar warned, will have committed fraud.
Alaba Properties was blocked from shutting down in March 2022. A second attempt that August also saw the firm stopped in its tracks. Accounts show that it had borrowed £50,000 as of March 2022.
Pressed by The Times on why he had tried to close the company, Alaba said: ‘Like many businesses and entrepreneurs, I accessed financial support during the Covid-19 pandemic. There has been no attempt to avoid my financial obligations, and I am wholeheartedly committed to ensuring that the liability is met in full. I’ve referred myself to the Labour Party’s investigations process on the matter and I’ll co-operate fully.’
Responding to the debacle, Tory shadow Cabinet Office minister Mike Wood said: ‘These are concerning revelations and Alaba clearly has questions to answer. Alaba needs to come clean about whether he tried to avoid paying his debts, and ministers should tell us if they had to intervene to stop it. The public deserve the truth.’
For a man once celebrated by Labour for jumping out of aeroplanes, it seems Alaba’s political career is suffering a rather sudden bout of turbulence.
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