Gord's cash crony

A MILLIONAIRE property magnate who has poured £88,400 into Labour party coffers is set to make HUGE profits-thanks to planning law changes brought in by the government.

Ex-oil baron John Milligan, 66, is proud of his friendship with the Prime Minister and his lifelong links with Labour.

He says his development company Ballathie Estates Ltd gave £25,000 to Gordon Brown's leadership campaign this year because he thinks he is "a good man".

His firm also gave £25,400 to the Labour party in 2001 - since when Mr Milligan and his wife Margaret have handed over another £38,000.

But now Mr Milligan's firm is about to reap a rich WINDFALL from changes in Scottish planning laws passed by the Labour party.

And the links between Ballathie Estates and Labour provide clear evidence of why the rules governing political donations need to be reformed.

Yesterday Mr Brown finally promised to introduce reforms to end the accusations of sleaze.

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These turned into a full-blown crisis last week with the discovery that another property developer, David Abrahams, had broken rules by secretly giving £650,000 to Labour using the names of third parties.

But the PM failed to outline any specific proposals or a timetable for reform proposals being drawn up by Justice Secretary Jack Straw.

Meanwhile, the premier's crony Mr Milliganis set to make at least £600,000 if he sells two executive homes he has been allowed to build on protected lands on an historic Scottish country estate. And up to A DOZEN more houses may follow.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Milligan or his company. But campaigners see Ballathie as an example of the building over of rural Scotland's natural heritage.

Mr Milligan, a former dockyard fitter, made his millions out of the oil and gas industry in Aberdeen. He landed £44m when he sold his North Sea oil company in 1998.

A lifelong Labour supporter, he become a trustee of the Adam Smith Institute, Mr Brown's favourite think-tank, and soon picked up a top quango post.

He also snapped up the exclusive Ballathie Country Estate, which runs down to the River Tay. It is famous as a shooting and fishing destination for wealthy businessmen.

Documents obtained from the Electoral Commission reveal that three years later Ballathie Estates and the Milligans started to give money to the Labour party. On March 1, 2001, Ballathie Estates Ltd gave £400 quickly followed by a further £25,000 on May 1.

Just a month later Scottish Labour party boss Wendy Alexander appointed Milligan chairman of the Scottish New Deal advisory taskforce, bringing him into regular contact with then Chancellor Mr Brown, who controlled the jobs scheme.

Opponents accused Labour of failing to keep a clear distinction between its financial backers and professional partners.

Former Scottish Conservative leader David McLetchie said of Mr Milligan's appointment: "People will wonder if the party has sold its soul."

Mr Milligan and his wife then began donating large amounts to Labour. They gave £15,000 in June 2002, another £15,000 in May 2003 and Mr Milligan handed over £8,000 in February 2005. Their latest gift came in June this year, when Ballathie Estates gave £25,000 to Mr Brown when he was waiting to take over as Labour leader.

Recently, Milligan and his firm have been able to take advantage of new rules introduced by the Scottish Executive when it was run by the Labour party.

For decades, property developers have been banned from building new homes on Scotland's country estates. Land like the Ballathie Estate could be rented out for shooting and fishing, but development was restricted to refurbishing rundown estate buildings.

But in February 2005, after Mr Milligan had been a Labour party donor for four years, the Scottish Executive announced the planning rule changes. The Labour-run Executive said the amendments were needed to repopulate remote rural areas.

But, in reality, most of the new buildings are executive homes sited in some of the country's poshest estates.Ballathie Estates has recently been granted permission to build its two new detached, stone-built executive houses following changes to local planning laws in December 2005.

Before permission was granted in July, 2007, local campaigners attacked Ballathie's plans and lodged objections. The Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland claimed they were creating a "sham hamlet".

Last night John Milligan insisted there were no links between his donations and his development plans at Ballathie Estate.

He said: "The suggestion that my donation to Gordon Brown's campaign and the subsequent planning permission I obtained are somehow linked is silly. Gordon has been having a bad time recently but I think he is a good man. I think people are guilty of muckraking."

He added: "I've met Gordon personally on various occasions. I've been a Labour party supporter for over 20 years.

"I've made an occasional donation but I can't remember dates. They'll be a matter of public record."

But SNP and Tory politicians said the links showed that proper reforms to the party donor system are needed. A spokesman for Scottish First Minister Alec Salmond said: "There is a clear pattern here. Since Bernie Ecclestone offered Labour £1m there has been an impression of a proximity between donors and policymakers. An impression of financial sleaze has developed over the government."

Conservative MP Chris Grayling said: "It is shocking just how many of these questions are coming out of the woodwork about the way Labour has approached party funding.

"They really need to place all their cards on the table and explain all the things they have been doing."