David Cameron indicates that he won't compromise on donations cap

I went to David Cameron's CCHQ press conference earlier today and took my 18 Doughty Street camcorder.  The above video clip is of the Tory leader's remarks on political funding - in response to a question from The Guardian's Will Woodward.  Mr Cameron appeared to indicate that he would be willing to play hardball with Labour on the donations cap - a cap he has suggested should be set at £50,000.  Labour want an exception for trade unions and the Tories are resisting that.  Mr Cameron must know that extra state funding of political parties is incredibly unpopular with grassroots Tories and most voters.  The Tories may not be able to afford 'no deal on state funding' but Labour's financial plight is more serious.  The negotiations could get interesting...

Comments

[Ted]

Got a leaflet through the post for the Tory weekly lottery today - so some imagination in trying to raise funds elsewhere.

On a serious point there'll need to some compromise as Labour faces massive debts and if no resolution on Union funding it'll be state funding & spending caps targeted at us.

[Don Jameson]

Ted. I got the same flyer over the weekend. Worrying. I can apparently gamble away and pay by credit card. But I'm afraid of letting my Inner Tosser have a flutter...

Our thinking is still not joined up here, is it?

On state funding, I think that train has already left the station; Brown will take DC's £50k limit - thanks so much - then exempt the trades unions, then give £20 million to the Smith Institute (while suppressing MIC and the Libdems Rowntree slush fund).

[Annabel Herriott]

Yes, Ted, I got one too. Just deciding how many goes, as I am not normally a lucky person, but its a good idea.

[Sally Roberts]

YOu know what they say, Annabel - you've got to be in it to win it!!

[Ismail]

I hope the taxpayer doesn't have to mark up the shortfall, if we have donation cap. Also, David Cameron is such a hypocrite. He goes on to say that the Conservative Party has been too much associated with the rich, so why do you have to spend £50,000 just to speak over dinner at a restaurant (and that doesn't include the bill) with him. What utter nonesense from a Notting Hill elitist.

[Ismail]

I hope the taxpayer doesn't have to make up the shortfall, if we have a donation cap. Also, David Cameron is such a hypocrite. He goes on to say that the Conservative Party has been too much associated with the rich, so why do you have to spend £50,000 just to speak over dinner at a restaurant (and that doesn't include the bill) with him. What utter nonsense from a Notting Hill elitist.

[bill grant]

what a load of nonsense the cap is. 50 000!!! is that per company? what if i have 20 companies? what about my wife myself and three brothers ie 250 000? all a joke in compliance.

[Cllr Green]

Entirely principled, entirely right!!! Mr. Cameron must stand firm on this. There must be NO exception for the unions. If the workers wish to give to Labour, let them give individually!!!

[David Boothroyd]

The workers do give individually. Levy-paying TU members individually decide to pay the political levy, and all that happens is it gets bundled up into one payment. So really any £50,000 limit should apply individually to each union member paying into the political fund.

The Conservatives should be wary of enacting any piece of legislation which specifically hobbles Labour for no good reason other than party advantage.

[Justin Hinchcliffe]

I heard Labour's John McDonnell on the TV today. He kept referring to trade union donations as "clean money". He said that it was totally different from individuals who donate to political parties by claiming those that do want peerages, titles and other benefits in return. What an ignorant man! The trade unions give money to Labour in return for favourable policies. We have in this country "cash for policies". Sir Hayden Philips is right not to make an exception for the trade unions. Who the devil do they think they are?

[Kerri Parish]

I support a cap on donations but it must not mean that taxpayers fund political parties. I'm a member of CF and do not want to end up funding Labour. I'm sure many others will agree (on both sides).

[George Hinton]

The idea of public funding is repugnant.
It would only make political parties even more cavalier towards the electorate, and as for saving us from more scandal, get real, Kohl was brought down, and as for Mitterand and Chirac they have it a party piece.
The electorate would be alienated and turnouts even lower.
£50k sounds a reasonable limit and it screws NuLab with Union funding. An area that will need to be very carefully policed, vide the Smith(Sith)Institute.

[Graeme Archer]

I was thinking about the new Tory lottery, as Mr Keith's application arrived mere days ago. (Not mine though - are statisticians banned?). At first I was v encouraging re participation, reasoning along the following lines: there are so few Conservative party members, and - I don't know why - I don't imagine it will appeal to many. So the lottery not likely to work v well. Hence initially we would have quite good odds, vis a vis other forms of lottery.

But the big man pointed out to me: there's nothing on the form which says that entry is restricted to party members. Does this mean that we're taking part in some sort of subset marketing campaign of some other, much larger lottery? So the average number of weeks before any Conservative member wins will be immense?

You know, like the credit card thing - I have a Conservative party credit card (tosser!) but it's not really a Conservative party credit card - it's a normal Visa card with the Tory torch on it (well it did have until I scratched if off in horror at the rampant 80s vulgarity suggested by it).

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I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Margaret

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