Sunday, December 02, 2007

Root of all evil?

Good trip to London - all trains on time - but pretty depressing (to say the least!) news headlines upon my return :-((

I posted a short piece on this a few days ago - here - but I do think it worth repeating my personal view that, for me, this whole series of political Party funding crisis's does just further underline the inherent unsatisfactory nature of (all) political Party funding in the UK.

I'm not, for one second, trying to decry the current attention that's being focused on the Labour Party ... the press are simply, and rightly so, doing their job ... but it will be another Party, and another, and another, in due course - as recent history has shown us.

Something needs to change about the way we fund politics in the UK - it's a tragedy, politically for me obviously, that this hasn't been tackled to date. Personally, I think democracy thrives on pluralism, and I do think some form of state support is required to ensure that smaller Parties - in particular - survive and develop. Other options of private funding just do not allow the minnows to enter the pond.

... as I said in the comments section the other day, there is no shortage of such 'funding models' available - and the recent Unlock Democracy pamphlet (here) gives information on several such options.

No comments: