Labor takes money from multi-millionaire eco-warrior funding Just Stop Oil

A multi-millionaire eco-warrior who helps fund Just Stop Oil is also pouring thousands of pounds into the Labor Party.

Dale Vince said he made donations to the opposition “to help them win, to help them into government, so they have a chance to implement their agenda, which is my agenda, social justice and a green economy”.

The 61-year-old vegan owner of Forest Green Rovers football club has given the party £360,000 through his energy company Ecotricity since the last election.

He also gave Sir Keir £20,000 for his leadership bid in 2020 and £10,000 to deputy leader Angela Rayner. He also gave money to the Greens.

But he’s also one of Just Stop Oil’s biggest individual supporters, telling Sky News he’s donated “tens of thousands of pounds” to help set up the group and more last November when it was struggling with funding.

He said he sometimes disagrees with their tactics, but added: “I understand why they do what they do. It is what they have in their power.

“Whereas big business has varying powers to pursue its agenda and we don’t really have an answer to that other than taking to the streets at times.”

Sir Keir has publicly criticized Just Stop Oil for stunts that have seen activists tape themselves to roads, stop traffic and attack artworks in galleries.

The 61-year-old vegan owner of Forest Green Rovers football club has given the party £360,000 through his energy company Ecotricity since the last election.

He said he sometimes disagrees with Just Stop Oil’s tactics, but added: “I understand why they do what they do. It is what they have in their power to do.’

Just Stop Oil supporters on motorway bridges around the M25 last November as part of their campaign to demand that the government halt all new oil and gas licences

Mr. Vince is a self-made multi-millionaire who started out as a penniless hippie.

It was his separation from his first wife, Kathleen Wyatt, that led him to start life as a “nomad” and become a New Age traveler in 1984.

But when he built a wind turbine to power a trailer he lived in, the idea for the business that would make him rich was born.

In 1995 he founded the Renewable Energy Company and commissioned his first “green” wind turbine the following year.

This became Ecotricity, which brought in sales of around £165m a year in 2018.

He told Sky he’s only met Sir Keir twice, adding: “I’m a particular fan of his, the way he goes about things and what he says. I think he would be a great prime minister.”

Last April he said protesters taped themselves to goals at Premier League games as amusing, he added: “I don’t really have a problem with what they do, as long as it’s non-violent. Disruption is an integral part of the protest.”

But in November it was revealed Labor outlines plans to hit activists with tougher sentences if the party takes power.

Sir Keir, a former chief prosecutor, is said to be determined to crack down on those who have blocked emergency services and caused misery to people across the UK.

Labor is considering issuing guidance to judges to impose tougher sentences where possible. But the party is also calling for the increased use of restraining orders to curb the behavior of protesters, who cling to streets to cause maximum disruption.

The party was asked for comment.