I’d like to add my tuppenceworth to the extraordinary story that Ed Howker has
revealed in this week’s magazine about the funding of the
‘Yes to AV’ campaign. His investigation has exposed the Electoral Reform Society as little more than a front for a massive £21 million-a-year corporation called ERSL, which flogs
voting equipment and services at a remarkable profit. Ed got hold of the accounts for ERSL, its money-spinning division, and a line jumped out at me: accounts. “A very healthy profit margin
of 24 percent is nice to have,” it rather smugly said. You can say that again. That means, for every £4 it charges its clients (for the printing of ballot papers, sending of letters,
etc) it made £1of profit.
How can it get away with charging so much more than its services actually cost? This explains why this tiny “Society” managed to find £1 million a remarkable sum to funnel to the AV campaign.
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