Mrs Long said claims by the DUP it was in talks with the Electoral Commission over releasing the information of a donor who donated an estimated £250,000 to the party to advertise in the Metro newspaper during the Brexit campaign were clearly nonsense.
The Electoral Commission has stated it will release information tomorrow (Friday) on those who spent over £250,000 in the referendum, which is believed to include the DUP’s mystery donor. However, East Belfast Assembly candidate Mrs Long said nothing was stopping them doing so voluntarily now.
“The Electoral Commission have made it clear the claim Sir Jeffrey Donaldson was working through this with the organisation was bogus. The DUP are well aware thanks to legislation I secured as an MP, all single donors over £7,500 to local parties will eventually be revealed, backdated to January 2014.
“Other parties talk before elections about donor transparency but their actions post-election do not match their pledges. The UUP has recently talked about revealing its large donors, yet only last month, its Councillors on Belfast City Council voted against doing just that. The DUP first committed to end donor secrecy in May 2014, restated it in their manifesto last May, yet they still refuse to do so. The SDLP likewise talk about being in favour of transparency yet fail to follow through and publish, whilst Sinn Fein claim to be transparent yet include no link to their returns on their website.
“All parties were informed by the Electoral Commission to tell donors about this legislation, which the DUP should have already done. Alliance already voluntarily publishes all major donors. The DUP and others need to hurry up and do the same.”