| For | Against (private funding - donations or membership) |
|---|---|
| Wrong to ask parties to be funded by those that disagree with them | State funding makes party members less important |
| Regulating donations doesn’t work | Undermines individual freedom |
| Level playing field | Wrong to ask parties to be funded by those that disagree with them |
| ’Clean’ finance | |
| Focus on governing not financing |
Evidence
For
All arguments are about influence and access.
- ‘Clean’ finance, regulating donations doesn’t work
- Example 1: During Covid 19, 28 contacts worth £4.1 billion were awarded to companies with political connections to the Conservative party.
- Example 2: Fifty-one contacts, worth £4 billion, went through the “VIP lane”, a vehicle through which suppliers were given priority, 24 of which, worth £1.7 billion, were referred by politicians from the Conservative party or offices
- Example 3: Company in relation to Michelle Mone, Tony peer Baroness, ordered to repay £122 million for breaching a PPE contract during the Covid pandemic
- Large donations = access + influence
- Donations in hospitality
- Keir Starmer received approx. £13,000 of sports tickets and hospitality
- additionally, approx. £16,000 of clothes from Lord Alli from before the election (early 2024, latest February)
- Keir Starmer received approx. £13,000 of sports tickets and hospitality
- Levelling the playing field
- 2019, the Conservatives had more donations than all other political parties combined
- 2024, Labour had more donations than all other political parties
- Overall donations have increased
- Focus on governing not financing
- Short money - if one seat and 150,000+ votes or two seats
Against
- Undermines individual freedom
- Giving money to a political party is a personal freedom
- People earn money, they are entitled to spend it
- One of Labour/Liberal Democrat’s biggest spenders is David Sainsbury
- One of Conservatives biggest spenders is Lord Ashcroft
- Once he began disagreeing with the party, he stopped donating (after Thatcher left)
- Wrong to ask parties to be funded by those that disagree with them
- The money comes from tax payers
- Do tax payers want their money going to parties they disagree with?
- Compulsory funding of parties
- Private organisations
- The money comes from tax payers
- State funding makes party members less important
- Parties instead become more reliant on state funding
- Reduced legitimacy
- Joining and being a member of a party is a form of political participation