There’s something perturbing about this story on party funding in the Times:
“Hundreds of donations to political parties are to be kept secret under plans being slipped through the House of Lords.
Labour and the Conservatives have been accused of collusion over plans to raise the threshold above which parties must report donations from £5,000 to £7,500. The move is opposed by heavyweight figures such as Lord Neill of Bladen, former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, who said that there was no real justification for the increase.
The Electoral Commission has said: ‘An increase of this level has the potential to reduce public confidence in the transparency and integrity of political funding.’
…
The move is likely to be lucrative for political parties because it means people who want to give anonymously can give larger sums.” Of course, this differs from the expenses scandal in that there are private funds and private individuals involved – so there’s a stronger case against complete transparency.
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