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Party Political Funding: Paying the Politicians at Poll Time

Why should we care?

Green light for Ecclestone funding? © Ivan Raszl, Stock.Xchng

That's one of the main problems; politicians moan about the low turnout figures for elections, but cases like Enron's hardly make voting seem a worthwhile activity. The question is whether or not we would like a system where seeking to influence politicians by making donations is transparent.

If not, then we have to accept that scandals, like the Bernie Ecclestone case, will continue. Ecclestone owns the commercial rights to Formula 1 until the next century. His generosity to the Labour Government seemed to be rewarded with special treatment for his sport over tobacco sponsorship; although both he and the Government protested their innocence.

If we opt for greater transparency, then we will have to get used to hearing about upfront donations, like Sir Paul Getty's £5 million donation to the Conservative party during the 2001 general election campaign.

The danger for the politicians is that once information about donations is released, it can be used to highlight examples of special privileges being granted to the donors.

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