Party Funding: Labour's Hypocrisy

Party Funding: Labour's Hypocrisy

Iain Dale 7:31 PM

Lazy Hyena does a great job in exposing the hypocrisy of Jack Straw's article in The Independent this morning on party funding. He rails against big donations to the Conservative Party ... on the very day in which Subrosa reports...

Labour's campaign war-chest has been given a £2.25m top-up ahead of the general election.

The boost from three wealthy Labour backers comes ahead of a new year fundraising drive assisted by David Blunkett. The latest large donations to Labout came from Lord Sainsbury, the former science minister and financiers Nigel Doughty and Sir Ronald Cohen. Sainsbury and Doughty gave £1m each while Sir Ronald donated £250,000.

In September Labour's debts of £9.8m were more than double the Tories £4.2m.

A new internet fundraising initiative is also set to go live after New Year. Gordon Brown must hold an election by June at the latest. Blunkett said: "We know that those with a vested interest in the election of a Conservative government are pumping money into the Tory coffers.

"Our job is to ensure that the voice of the people, not just those with the power of privilege, is heard through to polling day."

So Labour is receiving two £1 million donations, just like that. There aren't many Tory donors who give anything like that amount. You couldn't make it up. It is the Conservatives who want to ban donations over £50k, but the suggestion is being stymied by Labour who fear losing money from their Trade Union paymasters.

The Labour Party is to all intents and purposes bankrupt - both in ideas and financially. Those who work for the Labour Party know that after the election there is a real possibility it might have to shut up shop all together. At the moment, it only exists courtesy of a handful of large scale donors and the munificence of Charlie Whelan. To all intents and purposes it is a majority owned subsidiary of the Unite trade union.

So whenever Jack Straw and his colleagues say Labour is in an unfair position, show them this graph.

The fact of the matter is that all political parties compete on an even basis for donations. People have all sorts of reasons for donating to parties. Some do it out of conviction. Some do it because they see which way the political wind is blowing. Others do it for less salubrious reasons. But there is no reason why the Liberal Democrats, for example, shouldn't be able to raise as much money as the Conservatives or Labour. Or is there? :)