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Political Parties and Elections Bill

My Lords, my name is down in support of Amendment 38 covering the proposal to insert a £50,000 cap on donations. I wish my name had also gone down on Amendment 39, because I think they are paired, but owing to a gremlin somewhere, unfortunately that has not happened. The noble Lord, Lord Tyler, has outlined the case for the cap extensively and I do not propose to plough that field again. Suffice it to say that, for me, more supporters, more members and more donors in all political parties are good for our democracy because that achieves a broader base of support and involvement. Fewer, larger donors carry dangers for our democracy. I say "carry" dangers rather than necessarily have them. The obvious question is the influence of wealthy donors on the policies of a party, and here I touch on the point made by my noble friend Lord Ferrers: it is not just whether they do or they do not have an influence, but whether there is a public suspicion that they might. Public suspicion is highly corrosive, because it carries the seeds of destruction of belief in the system and the way it operates. That is why the argument that the liberty of a person to give any amount to a party, which underlay his comments earlier, does not hold water in this sensitive area. This idea poses challenges for the two major parties. Historically, my party has benefited from large donors, although in recent years the Labour Party has largely caught up; whether that has been to its advantage is not for me to say. The Labour Party also benefits from the automatic nature of the political levy of the trades unions. I say to the noble Baroness that I am afraid there is too much anecdotal evidence of the way in which the donations are shuffled through without individual trades union members having a real say, and that knocks on the head the idea that the safeguards proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, are not required. I do not underestimate the challenges that these issues represent and the controversy that they will arouse, but surely, in the present circumstances, we need to face them. As has been said in the debate today, as was said on Monday, and as was said in Committee, there is a crisis of loss of faith in our democratic system. It is no good us wringing our hands and saying that it is all too difficult. That is the response of people who live inside the Westminster bubble, and I believe that our fellow citizens demand more of us today.