(no subject)
SPEAK YOUR BRAINS on the political party funding review forum chaired by Hayden Phillips. I'll be signing up later.
This was, of course, triggered by the secret party loans fiasco. The proposed solution, it seems, is for everyone to be able to tick a box on their voting form to give a party £3 of public money. You might think that's reasonable, but think again:
Who gets the money? Political parties. When do they get it? After the box has been ticked. That is, in time to fund the next election, creating a system that effectively protects the incumbents and refuses entry to the political marketplace from new forces. Especially if this is coupled with a ban on any other kind of party funding. Of course, all it means is that everyone who was going to vote gets to give their party £3 as well, rather than forcing the parties to go out and actually engage with people and listen to them to such a degree that those people feel like they want to help out and give their earnings.
Also, independants would be shafted, since the proposed system only benefits political parties. Starting a political party costs money and there are rules, I imagine.
My proposal? Parties (or individuals) can raise as much as they like to spend on their election campaigns, via loans, memberships, donations, merchandise sale or whatever the hell else they want, but only to a maximum of £100 per person (per year?). You want to win an election? Fine. No billboards, no clever PR, you just get out there and pound tarmac, shake hands, make friends, post leaflets, do local radio and meetings; just generally do it the hard way.
Anyway, I encourage you to go to the site and post your views on the forum, just to add to the percentage of people with an opinion. Hopefully you'll put a bit of thought into it, which is more than the £3 public-funding people have.
This was, of course, triggered by the secret party loans fiasco. The proposed solution, it seems, is for everyone to be able to tick a box on their voting form to give a party £3 of public money. You might think that's reasonable, but think again:
Who gets the money? Political parties. When do they get it? After the box has been ticked. That is, in time to fund the next election, creating a system that effectively protects the incumbents and refuses entry to the political marketplace from new forces. Especially if this is coupled with a ban on any other kind of party funding. Of course, all it means is that everyone who was going to vote gets to give their party £3 as well, rather than forcing the parties to go out and actually engage with people and listen to them to such a degree that those people feel like they want to help out and give their earnings.
Also, independants would be shafted, since the proposed system only benefits political parties. Starting a political party costs money and there are rules, I imagine.
My proposal? Parties (or individuals) can raise as much as they like to spend on their election campaigns, via loans, memberships, donations, merchandise sale or whatever the hell else they want, but only to a maximum of £100 per person (per year?). You want to win an election? Fine. No billboards, no clever PR, you just get out there and pound tarmac, shake hands, make friends, post leaflets, do local radio and meetings; just generally do it the hard way.
Anyway, I encourage you to go to the site and post your views on the forum, just to add to the percentage of people with an opinion. Hopefully you'll put a bit of thought into it, which is more than the £3 public-funding people have.