Monday, 27 April 2026
Statement on the Trades Club from Labour Party
Further to the HebWeb report last month where Cllr Patsi Guilfoyle gave a detailed rejection of vexatious claims of financial mismanagement at the Trades Club, the Labour Party itself has now issued the following statement.
"Following mischievous allegations of improper accounting in relation to the Trades Club Building Management Committee (BMC), Calder Valley Constituency Labour Party (CLP) can confirm that there is no active investigation by HMRC in relation to the Trades Club BMC accounts.
"The CLP has been registered for tax for over 20 years, and subsequent to an independent examination of the Trades Club BMC accounts the CLP can confirm there is no outstanding tax liability. In addition the CLP has declared all expenditure on election to the Electoral Commission as required.
"For context, the CLP has previously corresponded with HMRC concerning corporation tax, for which it submitted full accounts, including the BMC accounts. HMRC confirmed that the CLP did not need to submit annual returns unless its corporation tax liability exceeded a stated value, which was not exceeded. Our professional advisors have written to HMRC to reconfirm this position given the recent allegations. The BMC accounts have continued in much the same position as when we previously corresponded with HMRC, and so we are confident that the position will be reconfirmed.
"We are making the above statement now in order to prevent further online abuse of our BMC members who volunteer their time in service of the local community use of the Trades Club. Through their efforts we have secured a respected new tenant for the ground floor of the Trades Club, a local charitable organisation that is doing incredible work to help women and girls build confidence and strength. We would much rather that this fantastic news was the focus of local forums."
Roger O'Doherty, Chair of the Trades Club Building Management Committee, told the HebWeb, "I am so relieved that the party finally broken its silence on this matter. Local members have had their honesty and integrity impugned by vexatious complaints and online harassment. Hopefully this will bring an end to it."
See also
HebWeb News: The saga of the Trades Club building accounts (14 March 2026)
BBC News report (Feb 2025)
HebWeb Forum Trades Club ground floor (July 2023)
HebWeb News Statement from the Trades and Social Club Management Committee (July 2023)
Hebweb thread on Arts Centre closure (2016)
HebWeb News (2020): Building and Management Committee announcement 'Help the Trades Club finish the work'
HebWeb News report from Peter Lazenby: Trades Club Ground Floor work starts (Jan 2017)