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You are here: Home > Current Topics > Wanna Argument? > Party Political Funding: Paying the Politicians at Poll Time > Will the system work? |
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Wanna Argument?Party Political Funding: Paying the Politicians at Poll TimeWill the system work?
Image: The famous Enron 'E' - this has come to symbolise company mismanagement and executive greed. Copyright: Sean Graham, stock.xchng The new system of transparency will make it easier for political funding to be analysed and discussed openly. This will introduce a check on some of the more 'dodgy' activities of individuals and business organisations. But it will not prevent the current practice of funding. A good example of what will change is provided by the case of US energy corporation, Enron, which collapsed in late 2001, after massive false accounting practices. Enron has become a byword for company mismanagement and executive greed. After the company filed for bankruptcy, it left behind $15 billion of debts and 20 000 sacked employees. Enron's support of US politicians was well known, but what emerged later was that the company had also bankrolled UK political parties, (£25 000 to the Conservatives, £38 000 to Labour), between 1998 and 2000. What did Enron get for its money? In practical terms, money buys you influence, so the company got the chance to meet ministers, civil servants and MPs. Lobbying, or promoting a point of view to a governing body, is one of the key objectives of making political party contributions. Some time after Enron's donations were made, the company received the welcome news that the government had removed a block on building new gas-fuelled power stations - at that time a key part of Enron's work. Of course, it was stressed that this was an economic and environmental decision, unrelated to the firm's political lobbying. But the donations and the sense of cynicism that their disclosure brought, does little to dispel the perception of sleaze. So would Enron be able to do the same now? The answer to that is yes, and no:
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