Scottish Greens call for action on party political funding
It is vital that we introduce stricter regulations on political party funding and donations to tackle the corrupting influence of ‘dark money’ and wealthy donors, say the Scottish Greens.
The party has called for stricter spending limits, new transparency laws, a ban on donations from companies and individuals based outside of the UK, and new powers and resources for the Electoral Commission to effectively investigate and sanction infringements.
A 2021 study showed that just 10 wealthy people accounted for a quarter of all donations made by individuals to the Conservative Party.
In 2011 the Committee and Standards on Public Life recommended a £10,000 a year cap on individual donations, and has subsequently called for a series of reforms to increase transparency.
Scottish Green MSP Gillian Mackay said:
“We cannot allow our politics to be run by the rich for the rich, but that is what has happened. We have multi-millionaire donors buying influence and in some cases ending up with seats in the House of Lords.
“If we are to have a fairer playing field in the long run then we need to move to a fair system of state funding of political parties. But that should not stop us from taking important steps here and now.
“Unless we want our politics to become even more detached from our communities, we need far stricter limits on donations and campaign spending, and much tougher transparency and enforcement rules. There should also be a ban on the scandal of major donors being appointed to the House of Lords.
“The super rich have already got far too much influence over our politics. In an age of tech billionaires and dark money, change can’t come soon enough.”