Lib Dem bid to curb ‘big money’ politics blocked by Labour and Tories (Oldham Liberal Democrats)

Oldham Liberal Democrats <vmhampson@yahoo.co.uk>

Lib Dem bid to curb ‘big money’ politics blocked by Labour and Tories

March 3, 2009 5:35 PM
Originally published by UK Liberal Democrats

Lib Dem spokesman David Howarth argues for a donations cap during debate on the Political Parties and Elections Bill

A Liberal Democrat attempt to limit the amount that a donor can give to a political party over the course of a year to £50,000 has been defeated during report stage debate on the Political Parties and Elections Bill.

Proposing the amendment, Liberal Democrat Shadow Justice Secretary, David Howarth, said the central issue MPs needed to decide was "whether transparency in donations... is enough, or whether, as I and my party believe, there should be far stricter control than just knowing who donated money". He reminded the House that "the conclusion that all the parties reached [in the abortive cross-party talks under Sir Hayden Philips]... was that transparency itself was not enough. The perception that access could be bought and that donations were being given the with strings could be challenged only by having a cap on the size of donation."

David argued that the point of a donation cap was "to undermine the perception and the reality that big money buys access to political power." He said the sentiment behind the new clause was that "we have to do something to reduce the gap between us as representatives and the people whom we represent." The current system, he said, meant that parties were forced to "turn their attention to those who give big donations, and therefore away from the ordinary people of the electorate, [which is] profoundly dangerous".

The Liberal Democrat proposal was opposed by both the Government and the Conservatives. Of the opposition from the Conservatives, David Howarth said it was "profoundly disappointing to hear the Conservative Front-Bench spokesmen simply say that the time is not ripe - according to them, the time never seems to be ripe." He accused Justice Secretary Jack Straw of rowing back immensely from where people had imagined the Labour party to be: "The idea that transparency is all that we need in the regulation of donations is extraordinary, and it does not meet the obvious objection that if we know the system is corrupt, it is still corrupt."

The amendment was defeated by 299 votes to 70.

In a surprise move the Government announced, during debate on the Bill, that they would bring forward amendments during the Bill's House of Lords stages to introduce a system of individual voter registration. This is meant to tackle the problems of election fraud that are associated with the current system of household registration. David Howarth welcomed the Government's adoption of this change which the Liberal Democrats have been proposing for some time. However he said that there needed to be "a comprehensive study of the possible pitfalls and problems. We do not want there to be a move to an individual registration system that results in a great fall in the number of people registered."

In an unusual end to the Bill's report stage a new clause, allowing a candidate for a parliamentary election to withhold their home address from publication (including in the 'notice of poll'), was allowed a vote by the Deputy Speaker without being preceded by a debate. Liberal Democrat Shadow Leader of the House, David Heath, expressed the concerns of many in questioning the precedent of such proceedings. The new clause was passed by 235 votes to 176, with most Liberal Democrats opposing it.