BY BRAD JAMES
Westminster’s integrity has been compromised a lot over the last several decades and one of the most regular infractions made is Cash for Access scandals. Channel 4 documentary series Dispatches is set to blow the lid on a boiling pot of subterfuge in this area. In a similar vein to it’s dishonest cousin, Cash for Honours, buying one’s way into an MP’s pocket is an underhanded way of rich donors buying swift influence and bypassing the regular channels of democracy to do it. Dispatches threaten to take this insidiously unfair trend and expose it’s route all the way to the top.
Written in today’s Daily Telegraph, the Prime Minister met Paul Wilmott as part of Dispatches and was filmed to say he was considering giving large donations to all three parties. Wilmott conducted a similar meeting with Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg – Clegg was filmed too as part of an investigation into political donations. Set to be broadcast on Monday, the filming also shows Wilmott discussing a policy with Chris Leslie (shadow chief secretary to the treasury) that would benefit one of his firms. The recording shows Wilmott meeting David Cameron at a fund raising ball, as well as an executive Tory donor club where he met a member of the Cabinet. The film is intended to provide insight to the public into the world of party fundraising and raise questions about the level of access donations can garner.
The revelation comes off the back of a Telegraph expose, revealing how one of the Deputy Prime Minister’s inner circle illegally accepted to arrange a meeting with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Posing as a wealthy Indian businessman, the Telegraph’s investigator was informed he could donate via a ‘cousin,’ spread the gifts among relatives and even write a backdated cheque to the party. Such methods would permit the actual source of the donation to go undetected, which breaches electoral law. Last week, another scandal struck the Lib Dems when a donor offered to buy access to Nick Clegg. Lib Dem peer, Lord Strasburger, resigned from office over the affair and the electoral commission are investigating the debacle. Further allegations have emerged, revealing Mr. Clegg told the ‘Indian Businessman’ that monies could be divided over two years to protect his anonymity. It appears then that the Deputy Prime Minister was fully aware of the backhanded deal that was going to bankroll his party, yet he and Lord Strasburger deny wrongdoing. Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, is also said to be culpable and was recorded discussing a policy that would be of benefit to Paul Wilmott’s firm. The Conservative Party are said to be furious, vowing that they have done no wrong and broken no laws.
Fundraising is often the life blood of a political and they rely on donations from rich supporters, Unions (in the case of the Labour Party) and party members offering sums of money in support of those who reflect their ideology the closest. Yet a line has to be drawn, the donation itself needs to be an act of selfless generosity, a deed of philanthropy that aids the smooth running waters of democracy. However, such sentiments are jammed when ambition piles up jetsam in these muddied waters. People too often wish to further their own agenda when they inject cash into a party, favour their own business and promote ideologies close to their own heart. It’s an insidious practice that undermines our democracy, because it favours those with a bank balance over those at the ballot box. Those who write the largest cheques are eventually liable to attach the largest and thickest puppet strings to our political leaders and will force them to dance to a tune of their own making. Which should never be allowed, each member of society should be granted an equal say and be represented just as fairly by peers they elect in the process of a vote every four or five years. What does it really say about a nation where a pound becomes more potent than an X marked on a ballot paper? Does it imply that our votes are rendered essentially meaningless? Dispatches has been admirable in their work in exposing the lengths MPs are willing to go to in order to get money for their party. Also the lengths they will go to, in order to desecrate democracy in order to remain in power for longer. This is the most recent scandal and it follows in light of accusations made against Tory Party grandee Sir Malcolm Rifkind and former Labour Cabinet Minister, Sir Jack Straw, who also offered cash for access (and forced Rifkind to resign). No wonder the Conservatives are furious. It paints the Prime Minister in a bad light, shows his mantra to be ‘greed is good’ (from the movie Wall Street) rather than ‘ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,’ (a quote by US President, John F. Kennedy) A good practice for us as voters in this democracy is to ensure that our ‘leaders’ are held to account and shown that bank balance doesn’t matter compared to the vast input of people at elections. A warning they will all heed dearly if we galvanise it into action.
