The row over campaign donations has claimed another victim with the resignation of Peter Hain. The Work and Pensions Secretary said he resigned to clear his name in the controversy over donations to his deputy leadership campaign.
The scandal surrounding Hain is the latest in a series of controversies over Labour Party funding, including the “cash for honours” inquiry and subsequent claims that senior Labour figures have failed to declare donations properly.
The rows over funding have fuelled debate over politicians’ accountability and dealt a blow to Prime Minster Gordon Brown.
But will Hain’s resignation draw a line under the controversy or is a comprehensive overhaul needed of the way political parties are funded?
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4 comments so far
It really doesn’t matter that individual politicians or political parties get their money from varied sources, provided that all of it is openly declared and the information is available to the public, which is what the current reporting requirements are supposed to achieve. The source of funds reveals a lot that a voter needs to know about a politician’s real allegiances and is the reason that (1) politicians try to hide those sources and (2) they lobby for the parties to be funded by the taxpayer, which would remove the recurring embarrassment of having their more dubious sources identified. All that is needed is redrafting of the existing reporting requirements into plain English to remove the fudge factor and proper enforcement of the requirements thereafter.
Perhaps barring miscreants from parliament for a while would concentrate the minds of all.
As for Hain, he had his stint as little tin god in Northern Ireland and lost sight of the real world, so is suffering the consequences. The sooner some of his like-minded buddies go the same way, the better for the rest of us. We don’t get many good days out of Labour, but this is one of them.
- Posted by Mike TAbolish external funding completely - full stop.
- Posted by Stephen DeenHowever, political parties need some form of funding, and the good old taxpayer will have to step into the breach.
What should then happen is sufficient funding for the parties to function effectively, but no more.
The FT ran a story some weeks ago quoting that the upcoming US election was likely to cost $1 billion in donations / funding. What do the contributors expect for their $1 billion?
Let this be the opportunity for self-delusional advertising to come to an end.
Let the politicians win votes with well contructed arguments - not catch phrases on bill boards.
We the voters would then be better served.
Peter Hain’s downfall was due entirely to his arrogance. He was fully aware of the rules concerning party funding but chose not to follow them. This is what happens when a party has been in power for too long, ministers, and MP’s alike, seem to come to believe they are invincible and no longer accountable to anyone, least of all the electorate.
- Posted by Ian M.[…] man has not been able to take a trick, with the government shuddering to embarrassing scandal to embarrassing scandal. Tory leader David Cameron is doing a pretty good job of delivering ruthless soundbites to the […]
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