Politics
Christopher Harborne exposed the flaw in Labor’s political donations policy
Tom Brake is the Executive Director of Unlock Democracy.
We knew this would happen. When the Labor Party announced it would cap political donations from overseas donors at £100,000, Christopher Harborne’s response was unfazed: “Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” he said.
Now maybe he has found a way. Based in Thailand for many years, the crypto-billionaire behind Britain’s largest ever political donation (by a living donor) recently registered to vote at his address in Hampshire.
Is circumventing the new foreign donation cap really as simple as changing the address on the voter registration form? It’s shocking, maybe that’s the case. There is no single criterion for determining a voter’s residency status.
Registrars assess the overall circumstances: a person’s usual place of residence, whether a UK address is actually their permanent home and, if necessary, evidence such as bank statements or utility bills. Someone with a home in Britain but living mainly abroad could well satisfy these checks.
Either way, it reveals a clear practical weakness in the government’s policy. If the dividing line between limited and unlimited donations depends on whether a person qualifies as an overseas voter, those with the resources and motivation to do so will inevitably look for ways to qualify as UK-based.
But the biggest problem is inconsistency. If ministers believe that a donation of more than £100,000, from a Brit living abroad, risks giving someone undue political influence, would an equally large donation, from a donor living in the UK, not also exercise inappropriate influence? Big money is no less game-changing when it comes from Bayswater rather than Bangkok.
The latest donation figures show that in the first quarter of this year, just three people totaled more than £8 million in donations, or around two in five pounds given to political parties.
Harborne, in the last twelve months, has donated £15 million to Reform UK. Previously, he had donated significant sums to the Brexit Party and the Conservatives, as well as £1million to Boris Johnson’s office (the largest donation to a sitting MP), and most notably, £5million to Nigel Farage shortly before the Reform leader announced he would stand for Parliament.
Are we really to believe that such massive donations have no impact on politicians or their policies? Rightly or wrongly – and the evidence, of peerage appointments And policy changessuggests this is rightly so – the public is skeptical. They suspect that with money, in politics, comes power. A poll commissioned by Unlock Democracy found that fewer than one in fourteen voters believe that mega political donors expect nothing in return for their money.
This is why a fixed annual cap applying to all donations is the logical path to follow. This would be much simpler to apply, because every donor would face the same limit, regardless of where they reside. More importantly, it would demonstrate that political access and influence cannot be bought.
Christopher Harborne outlined the problem of ministers trying to regulate geography rather than influence. A cap deals with both. For future Prime Minister Burnham, what better way to signal change and rekindle citizens’ faith in politics? He won’t get a second chance based on a first impression.
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