Political Parties: Funding

Lord Grocott Excerpts

Thursday 1st July 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord McNally]

I will certainly give it my consideration and I will report it to the Deputy Prime Minister. I think that I had better stop there.

[Lord Grocott]

Is it not worth noting one of the lessons from the history of funding and politics? At the end of the 19th century, very strict limits were introduced on the amount that could be spent in individual constituencies, for very good reasons. Does it not strike the Minister that to concentrate on how much is being spent is more important than examining precisely where the money comes from? We need to look, at a national level, at the ludicrous amounts of money that are spent in general elections; we do not want to get anywhere near American levels. Any review should concentrate on putting much more severe, strictly applied limits on expenditure.