The Labour loans argument keeps rolling on with accusations going back and forth about the Lord Chancellor (and close friend of the PM) saying he will have the final say over any decision to prosecute anyone, including politicians. Meanwhile the CPS has counteracted this by saying they will make their decision public regardless of the Lord Chancellor in an effort to try to take the political control element out of this.
The whole affair is a big problem for all three main parties, despite the attention being concentrated on Labour. The Conservatives are making attacks on the Labour party about this issue, even though while Labour have revealed all donors/lenders to the party the Conservatives continue to refuse to make known the list of their donors and the Lib Dems have made known most of theirs. I am not saying that any of this excuses the Labour Party, all I am saying is that if there is going to be investigations (which there are, and rightfully so), it is only fair all parties give out the same amount of info rather than being secretive. The whole thing about the Lord Chancellor having the final say is also very wrong, when it is an issue like this, it should be the CPS final decision, no-one else. And if that means the PM or any other politician being taken to court then so be it, the law is the law at the end of the day.
The whole idea that this makes the Labour government corrupt though I view as nonsense, the party has been largely scandal free compared to the last years of the Tory government. It has had a few scandals (as have all governments in history), unfortunately most were repeatedly around the same people (names like Blunkett and Mandelson come to mind). *
So what is the answer for party political funding then? Well, funding parties from tax money is not a popular choice so that is unlikely, and would cause debates about smaller parties like the BNP receiving state funding. The current system could work if made more accountable and monitored, which I think is the best option. The government need to be less defensive though and need to start giving answers about what will happen next, particularly with the next lot of European Elections in a few years time (an ideal chance to try any new campaign funding system), the opposition also need to stop attacking all the time, open up and come up with some helpful suggestions and options.
*ps. A blog on the Labour governments record is coming!
