Democracy cannot be bought
HAVE a sneaking suspicion the Conservatives are trying to steal the next election.
This government has already made so many unnecessary changes – like voter identification, which could have a disproportionate effect on poor or disabled people and ethnic minorities, according to the Electoral Commission.
But now the Tories have quietly snuck through big changes on election finance here in the UK, which most people won’t have heard of.
They’re getting desperate and they need to be stopped.
The new rules mean that the national election spending cap for political parties will rise by a huge 80 per cent to about £35,000,000. For perspective, the previous maximum was £19.5 million, and the Tories came closest to that in 2019 with £16.5m (Labour spent £12m, while the Lib Dems forked out £14.5m).
The Conservatives also increased the threshold for publicly declaring the names behind individual donations from £7,500 to £11,180.
Why isn’t anyone talking about this? Well, these rules were pushed through via a statutory instrument at the end of last year, and it did not face a debate or vote in the Commons.
Statutory instruments have been used under Conservative governments more than any other in the history of Parliament. And as we can see with the change to the election spending cap, they are using them for very important issues.
It is hard to justify, but a lack of transparency and accountability seems to be a hallmark of this government. As an MP, I know that elections are increasingly expensive, and the cap should be reviewed alongside inflation, but such a massive rise is hard to justify – and it is very bad optics during the cost-of-living crisis gripping the country.
Not just that, but the Electoral Commission already made clear that the public has little confidence in the public finance system. Rushing through these drastic measures with no debate does little to help that.
The Electoral Commission has said it “has not seen evidence to support these changes”. And they said the amendments will give “significantly more scope” for parties that attract the largest donations to be able to campaign.
So, the more money you have, the better your chance of winning. I’m sure you can guess who will benefit the most.
UNACCOUNTABLE DARK MONEY
Governments are supposed to function for the benefit of the people, not selfishly for the benefit of one political party or group. In fact, The Seven Principles of Public Life – selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership – which all MPs have to abide by, states exactly this.
One of the most important questions we must ask is, where are they getting the money from? It is hard to see how this won’t result in more unaccountable dark money being funnelled into our political system, including through loopholes from foreign entities, as we have seen in the past.
So, when the government raises the election cap by 80 per cent, I am suspicious. Will there be more shady deals? Will Tory donors be calling in favours? And how many government contracts will be handed to their mates before the general election?
There is no doubt in my mind that they will try to outspend everyone else again at the next election – as they have historically done – to communicate their message on all fronts.
Perhaps it’s no coincidence these changes have been made while the Tories lag behind in several opinion polls.
The desperate Conservatives want to spend their way out of trouble and back into Number 10 – other major parties may struggle to compete financially, never mind the smaller ones. But the antidote to lies and corruption should always be truth and transparency.
This is why I consistently shine a light on what the government is doing in our name. From its antidemocratic voter ID requirements, which Jacob Rees-Mogg, himself, suggested was “gerrymandering”.
Figures from last year’s England local elections show around 14,000 people were unable to vote due to this change. Sadly, we could not stop the voter ID measures, and we cannot stop the new cap on election spending.
But when it comes to the next election, we need to be clear that our democracy cannot be bought, that people will not be prevented from using their democratic right to vote, and that this government will be held to account for its record of failure and lies.
And importantly, we in Opposition need to make it clear that the next Labour government will clear up the mess of corruption and cronyism created by the Tories and put strict measures in place to ensure accountability and transparency. That is what the public wants to see.
It’s time to restore trust and faith in our democracy.