ELECTION POSTERS adorning the walls DUSITE generally be assumed to be the work of eager campaigners making a lour with a bucket of paste in the dead of night. Even the Tory business owners are relactant to reveal their colours to LET TO EARED Me supre tore con of to the electors Cardiff South East to find that the Labour posters displayed at local garages and cinemas in the 1964 and 966 General Elections were not bastily removed The garages and question are owned by the Hodge Group: Brother Julian was offering a helping hand to Labour's campaign. He also provided office equipment and, on clection day, cars owned by the company were made available to ferry voters to the polls.
The cothusiasm of the millionaire of the working class has showed up in other ways.
AGENT In 1966, Jack Brooks became the Labour agent in Callaghan's Cardiff SE constituency, Brooks. & plasterer by trade, needed a job. He was taken Sales Sound Lid., a subsidiary of Hodge's cinema chain.
In spite of his relatively salary for those days between £1,200 and E1,300 and a new SOCIALIST CHALLENGE 18 May 1978 page B Austin 1100 purchased for his use. the company saw little of considered, a job for Callaghan's When Brooks became leader of the South Clamorean county councu L 1971, he was entitled: to expenses of TOLD TO WELSHOE LESLE Wales Echo last year: "That's why | still did plastering and painting a couple of nights a week weekends to make up my money.
ARRANGED in Mast of this work was arranged by Julian Hodge and took buildings that he owned. There is not doubt that Brooks needed extra cash be has twice been fined for non-payment of national insurance contributions.
Hodge waso't simply
Callaghan a favour. Brooks is worth cultivating. Former chairperson af theor chairperson on the sout Labour chairperson Glamorgan council for three years, candidate (unsuccesaful) for Barry in both the 1974 General Elections, Brooks is shortly to take office as chairperson of tbe Wales Labour Party.
Just before the October 74 election that swept Callaghan into office, good Julian Hodge told a Western Muil journalists: 1am not afraid of a Labour government.
GEORGE THOMAS, then Labour's Secretary of State for Wales, presenting Hodge with a gold watch in 1970. Thomas wrole to close friends seeking normal.
understandabic.
Prime Minister, who both represent Carditi constituencies were msdwives Jack Hodge's It is MY SCS multi-millionaire would now favour with these Labour leaders.
founding of the Commercial Bank of Wales in 1971 brought Thomas and and at took office in th Government in 1974. Both MPs each hold 15000 worth of shares in the bank.
Trends like a roll-call of Labour Party place in Councilors and bas 1964-70 Labour administration.
doing INTERESTS that. But the questions" in biggest event for more for politicians" found within Street Cardify Riverside in Thomas' and the squalor Callaghan's.
CUT-THROAT
are the victims of the operations.
from the West Midlands alone. crimson. Parliamentary business rapidly returned to The reaction of Mr Speaker is LOOMES ONE the Commercial Bank of were unlikely that the merchant banker he the largest private employer in Wales if he had not found HO TO ala.
The favours have been mutual. The BUSINESS Callaghan on to its board of directors a position they retained until they Hodes present Labour In fact, the bank's share register officials. It has included more thin a say it dosen Welsh Labour MPs, numerous appalling.
featured six who held office in the Thomas, evidently Labour's attention to the interests of industrialists and financiers is not a secret. The Social Contract attests to seeking donations.
COSECILE: It was in scram interests on a personal level is another matter. The books have yet to be ruily Commercial Bank of Wales (CBW). but enough has been uncovered by Rebecca, a radical Welsh magazine, of busines and elsewhere. The articles on these centre pages are based on material published by Rebeces over the past two years.
For George Thomas, the launching TeLL RHI of Hodge's bank ranked with the Second Coming. It was, he said, 'the Wales my Wales than David Lloyd George and all of us politicians put together. " Some of the evidence of the achievertients be Bevan mile the headquarters of the CBW in St Mary's the decay of marking constituency, of Roath in that of Julian Hodge's customers also have a fot to be grateful for. Among thei notorious psramid-selling and second mortgage which brought ruin te thousands of working class people. Al the peak of this cut-throat financial scheme in 1973, Hodge had over thee hundred brokers sending him busines Literally millions ol people bave links with borrowed money from Julian Hodge in the form of highly expensive second the mortgages on their homes. Between September 1974and February 1976the Hodge Group made C225m worth of credt business" — the larger part of which mortgages. operation to be taken to the courts was Commercial Credit Finance Lid, whose directors were had accepted 114,200 worth of business from CCF, and at the trial it emerged that Hodge received interest on loans at a rate of 25,2 per cent a year, while horse owners were obliged to pay as much as 54 percent. Thetrial judgeobserved: I is absolutely their Julian Hodgereceived a knighthood in 197D; yet another commendable entry in Harold Wilson's benighted Barthdar Horous hats, For Georg:
then Secretary of Scate of Wales, tbis award to Brother Julian BOt sufficient, He decided that the knightbood merited a present, and he wrote on House ol Commons paper to mutual friends Thomas sent 10 Bill Bevan. princip of the lett of University College, Cardiff, which has just brought to light this spic moment in Labour bistory.
"The well deserved honour that has been bestowed on Julian Hodge has brought enormous pleasure throughour South Wales, wrote the Secretary of State. Tbereis little that we can do for Julian, but at least we can give hist a present that will be a permaneol reminder of the pleasure his friends Knighthood has been conferred on GOLD WATCH contribution, towards a gold watch, to Thomas at 31 Windsor Park, Carditt, the cavelope 'strictly personal". The address happens to be the Hodge Group's 'chairman's office". The chairperson of the group is Julian Hodge. When the Lahnur Coverment Je B 1ea weeks later, Hodge provided George Thomas wilh ollice accomodatoo Last sunumer, Mr Speaker - whose gentlernany manacemen or com mots debates will be amibar to those who listen in to the broadcasts of Parliament accompanied and Ms Hodge on a week's holiday la Saudi Arabia, where the group were the guests of the Saudi oil minister. The visit, said Thomas, was private.
When Jim Callaghan bocame Prime Minister there were murmurs about hix Hodge Callaghan was unmoved. "He was and is my friend,"
announced. That friendship may have begun nearly 30 Callaghan's constituency (see The helping band of Brother Julian"). As a director of over 60 private companies, Hodge was already a millionaire on paper, and his developing links with the party that dominates Weish politics were to fill his coffers even more In the mid-60s the Hodge Group relied on a buoyant hire purchase sector to keep profits on the increase Hodge was greacly relieved at the 1965 Budgel. I am astonished,' he said That the CHICSUE something about purcbase tax and that be did pot increase down-payment Interest on bire purchase As it happens, the Chanceller of the Exchequer who presented that Budget was Jim Callaghan. His 1967 Budge elapichant to be hellent empire. spite vebement opposition from Transport Mibister Barbara Castle to any boost for three-wheeled vehicles, because accident record, Callaghan decided to relax downpayments on these particular vehicies, together with motorcycles. Enere were onil Two manufacturers of three-wheelers, and the Jarpest - was part of..the Hodge Group.
IMF GUEST In the same year, Callaghan invited Hodge to be his guest at the annun conference of Labour's tavounte Panda, he complimen was ta t Fund, compliment was to be returned. When Callaghan was no longer Chancellor he still attended IME conferences — as the guest of Brother Julian.
The two men had ample opportunity to discuss marters of mutual interest, and in thecarly 70s when Callaghan was Treasurer of the this relationship nearly resulted in aunting as agents for Todget en worker insurance. As Hodge representatives La neeling of parly executives in Cardiff at the heginning 0T 196E In South Wales we have a voting strength of 650,000 giving a premium income of £195,000. Labour would they said, omitting to meation that th company would collect over E100,000 a year. Callaghan was enormously during the private session at the Labow Party conference later that year, It was thrown our by 4.3m votes DIRECTORS Callaghan's disappointment shortly to be relieved when he and Thomas hecurne directors Commercial Bank of Wales in Mas 1972 on a salary said to be £1,000 a year. Their sharcholding:—£5,000 warh each were much tamer [bal those that could be obtained by investors to the beavily