Politicians will be thinking about the next general election as they reflect on the municipal elections that took place last week. Parties will be aiming to bolster their war chests for the campaign.
But in their haste to do so, are they sufficiently investigating the source of the funding?
Big party donors receive special access to leading lawmakers and occasionally even special insights into party strategy and government affairs.
Therefore, it concerns who is giving these funds and what, if anything, they hope to receive in return from politicians.
Making sure that MPs and parties are taking funds from reputable sources, not those trying to undermine our democracy, is crucial to public trust in our electoral system.
That’s why we need political parties to step up and do proper checks on donations.
This is not just about fairness, but security – we need to be wary of donors who are close to foreign governments that may wish us harm.
In 2020 the UK’s Intelligence and Security Committee found in its Russia Report that oligarchs linked to Putin had donated to UK political parties as part of likely Russian influence operations.
From attempting to encourage politicians to turn a blind eye to Russian aggression in eastern Europe and to the rampant corruption of its ruling elite, these operations were ultimately about weakening the West and bolstering Russia as a superpower.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been a wake up call to us to ensure we do not allow their influence in our politics and wider society to go unchecked any more.
But it’s not just Russian influence we need to be watchful of.
Just last month the Telegraph revealed that a Chinese businessman, RuiYou Lin, allegedly linked to a state intelligence agency and to secret Chinese state police stations in the UK, had organised fundraising dinners for the Conservative Party and been pictured alongside Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Sajid Javid.
The Chinese Communist Party will clearly do anything possible to neutralise opposition to their growing global power and the Chinese government’s human rights abuses, and leverage their influence on the British economy.
It has very different ideas and values to ours and is highly unlikely to be looking out for what’s best for the people of Britain.
It’s not the first time China has tried to influence our politicians.
Last year, MI5 warned political parties about an alleged Chinese spy, Christine Lee, who had donated to Labour and attended a Conservative Party fundraising dinner.
Right now, the UK’s political parties have to do few checks on individuals they’re getting money from beyond whether they are on the electoral register, when they should be doing thorough due diligence on whether those individuals are reputable, and whether their money comes from legitimate, UK-based business.
Until we make those changes, Britain’s political system is seriously vulnerable to foreign influence and dirty money.
And that’s not just my belief – it’s the view of Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee. Its Chair Sir Julian Lewis told the House of Commons last week that ‘political parties do not have to examine the source of the funds they receive.’
It’s also the view of the Electoral Commission, which wrote to the security minister, Tom Tugendhat, last November to say that political parties ‘should be required to take additional steps to ensure that they know where the money has come from’ when they receive donations to address concerns over foreign interference in the UK.
When a political party in government makes tough decisions about our economy or the UK’s place in the world, we need to know they have *only* our country’s best interests at heart and haven’t been unduly influenced by big donors.
The top ethics body in the land, the Committee on Standards in Public Life, meanwhile warned back in 2021 that there were too many loopholes in the current regime for regulating party political donations to prevent foreign donations influencing UK politics.
After recent scandals, that feels like a missed opportunity.
I believe checks on donations that might have ultimately originated from foreign powers trying to influence our political system have become even more crucial following changes the government made last year to the electoral rules.
Alongside the controversial Voter ID requirements, the government also changed the rules to allow any UK citizen who has ever lived in the UK to vote.
By some estimates, that means a potential 3million additional voters based overseas at the next election, each one of whom can now also donate to a political party.
Without a requirement on political parties to do proper checks, this risks exposing the UK to potential donations from those who moved abroad and could now be working for the government of another country, or a political party there.
The government had a golden opportunity to tackle this last week, when MPs voted on a change to the National Security Bill currently going through Parliament.
The amendment – introduced in the Lords – would have ensured political parties have systems in place to identify whether there were risks that donations had come from a foreign power.
It offered a chance to take a small step towards better transparency, but instead of taking the opportunity, the government rejected the amendment, stating that despite all the expert advice they have received from independent bodies, in their view the law is just fine as it is.
UK businesses and banks, art galleries and estate agents are all required by UK law to check the source of wealth of their clients.
The government is even bringing forward new rules to make sure these kinds of checks are done before someone can become the owner of a football club.
Do you think parties should have to proper checks on donations?
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Clearly the stakes in the Premier League are high, but nothing is more important than protecting our democracy.
It’s time for more action, tighter rules, and a concerted effort to remove big money from those who may not have the best interest of Britain at heart influencing our politics.
Parties, Parliament, and indeed the country cannot and should not be for sale to bidders from foreign governments.