Len McCluskey took private jet paid for by company given union contracts
Len McCluskey, who was the Unite general secretary for a decade, also attended football matches with the firm's representatives, who paid for the tickets.
An investigation ordered by Sharon Graham, Mr McCluskey's successor, found the Labour-affiliated union was overcharged for the construction of the hotel in Birmingham by at least £30m. It spent almost £100m on the hotel and conference centre after costs ballooned over the course of its construction.
The company, which BBC News has reported to be the Flanagan Group, was run by people described by Mr McCluskey as 'good friends' of his.
The report, published on Tuesday, said the former union boss signed the contracts and 'overruled Unite staff who raised questions about the firm, and overruled lawyers who advised against the contracts'.
Mr McCluskey has argued that the decisions around the hotel contractors were made by the union's former finance director, who died in 2020, but the report was unable to confirm it.
'Getting to truth has been ugly'
Ms Graham told Unite representatives that 'getting to the truth has been ugly' but promised that she would work to get the union's money back.
According to the internal report, emails showed that the company 'arranged football final tickets and flights for him [Mr MCluskey] including at least one private jet flight'.
It added: 'The evidence for this comes from tickets and flight information sent to Len McCluskey's Unite email. There is no indication that Len McCluskey later reimbursed them.'
The emails showed that Mr McCluskey received tickets and flights to the Champions League Final in Kyiv in 2018 and the same final in Madrid the following year. He also appeared to attend at least five Liverpool FC matches, four with matchday hospitality.
There is no suggestion Mr McCluskey breached any gifts or hospitality rules, because the union did not have a policy while he was leader. Ms Graham introduced a gifts and hospitality policy after becoming general secretary.
'Asset for the union'
Mr McCluskey's lawyers told the BBC that he paid for his travel in full and recalled travelling with a commercial carrier on one of the flights.
They added that he had occasionally attended football matches with the Flanagan Group but paid his way and did not believe he even attended all the domestic matches claimed by the report.
Mr McCluskey and Flanagan Group have previously said cost overruns were partly because of the hotel project using unionised labour.
The Flanagan Group declined to comment to The Telegraph, but have previously told the BBC: 'We would like to make it clear that this scheme was delivered fairly and should be regarded as an exceptional asset for the union.'
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