Party funding talks collapse

The collapse of the cross-party talks on party funding chaired by Sir Hayden Phillips is deeply disappointing and sends out a terrible message to the electorate.

This isn't going to stop politicians from increasing state funding - in the last year alone MPs voted for themselves a £10,000 annual Communications Allowance. Without an agreement this will only get worse and increase the influence on individual millionaires while local politics will continue to decline and cynicism about politicians will fester.

The Tories objected to Sir Hayden’s draft proposals on trade unions yet the rules clearly state that donations from trade unions will only be exempt from the cap if they can be clearly linked to an individual and subject to an audit trail. The Conservative objection appears to rest on the idea that trade unionists should be capped more heavily than rich businessmen, which is manifestly not equitable.

I do not agree with all the proposals - indeed they go nowhere near far enough - but at least Sir Hayden’s draft proposals are an attempt to get to grips with this issue.

As Director of Unlock Democracy Peter Facey said: "By pulling out of these talks following the collapse of the police investigation into the alleged abuse of the honours system earlier this year, the message of the major parties to the public is clear: it is business as usual. This can only lead to greater cynicism and alienation from the political system. So much for Cameron’s and Brown’s competing claims to embody ‘new politics’. It is time for Parliament to try and get them out of this mess."