Political donations are poison to our democracy – but there’s an easy antidote to that |
How do we know whether political funding is corrupt? Mostly, we don’t. A plutocrat delivers a sack of cash to a political party. A few weeks later, it announces a policy that happens to favour the donor’s business. Are the events linked? We might suspect it; we cannot prove it. But the suspicion itself is corrosive and demoralising.
The current funding system, perhaps more than any other factor, turns us away from politics, breeding disillusionment, alienation and cynicism. A survey by the Electoral Commission last year found that only 18% of respondents believed spending and funding are transparent. A government survey in December discovered that 87% of people are “concerned about the possibility of corruption” among politicians. A further survey concluded that political donors are believed to wield the most influence of any elite faction. Disillusionment with politics drives people into the arms of the extreme right. This is paradoxical, as it tends to be highly receptive to the ultra-rich.
I’m prompted to write this column by Tom Burgis’s powerful investigation for the Guardian into Reform UK’s relationship with Christopher Harborne, who is based in Thailand. Remarkably, Harborne has provided about two-thirds of all Reform’s donations since its foundation: more than £22m altogether. The rules in Britain limit the amount a party can spend in an election year, but set no cap on the proportion a single funder can provide. In theory, one person could supply its entire budget. At what point do we decide that a political party is, in effect, owned by a donor?
I can’t prove that Harborne’s money has bought special favours from Reform, and make no suggestion of illegality. But there is also no way of proving that this funding is not connected........