Author Archives: Dave Smithson

Opinion: Party funding plans to be kicked into the long grass – but what’s the alternative?

Proposals from the Committee on Standards in Public Life for state funding of political parties were kicked into the long grass by all three major players before the report was even officially published.

Reaction from various interested sources and commentators has been almost unanimously opposed to the idea with some, notably the Taxpayers’ Alliance, outraged by the proposals.

The key thrust of most of the arguments against the plan is simply that the time is wrong to burden tax payers with state funding of politic parties at a time when so many budgets are being cut, jobs being lost and deficits being …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 16 Comments

Recent Comments

  • User AvatarAlex Sabine 17th May - 3:11am
    If the reports are to be believed, IDS has already dismissed this apparently back-of-the-envelope costing by Steve Hilton. That is hardly surprising since he has...
  • User AvatarElliot Bidgood 17th May - 1:42am
    Thanks for the information about the govt consultation, Carol, hadn't heard about that. Just filled it out.
  • User Avataralistair 17th May - 12:37am
    Where does Cameron get his advisors from, Coulson, Hilton? It's like some parallel valueless universe.
  • User AvatarRichard Dean 16th May - 11:49pm
    I wonder if we might all appreciate a bit of light entertainment at this stage of the debate? Here are the lyrics of “Visions of...
  • User AvatarNicola Prigg 16th May - 11:21pm
    Was his first speech to conference as leader recorded and put online anywhere?