The Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, dined with three executives of a doorstep lending company, CLC Finance at the Conservatives’ annual winter fundraiser in February, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has reported. Doorstep lending was later excluded from strict new rules governing other lenders, such as payday loan companies.{jcomments on}
The CLC Finance group enjoyed a “wide-ranging political discussion” with Duncan Smith on matters including Universal Credit, a spokesman for CLC Finance said.
Research by the Bureau also reveals that two of the directors who were sitting with Duncan Smith are members of a family firm that has given at least £28,500 to the Tories over the past three years. The first donation from this firm was recorded by the Electoral Commission in late 2011, just as pressure was mounting on the Government for tighter regulation in the high-cost credit market.
Read the full story on the Bureau of Investigative Journalism website.
