Transparency International UK is calling for political party funding reform in the wake of the resignation of Conservative party co-treasurer Peter Cruddas after it was revealed that he offered access to the Prime Minister and Chancellor for up to £250,000.
Transparency International UK Executive Director, Chandu Krishnan, said “This shocking revelation underscores the need for urgent reforms to clean up political party funding in the UK. Access to the government should not be for sale to the highest bidder. The imposition of a ceiling on political party donations of, say, £10,000 would prevent such scandals from recurring with alarming frequency.
“Parliament also needs to act with urgency to enact legislation for a mandatory register of all lobbying activity so that the UK public knows who is lobbying whom for what, and how much they are paying for it. Without these urgent reforms, public trust in politicians will be further eroded.”
According to the anti-corruption campaign group, the Leveson Inquiry indicates that corruption in key UK sectors is much more widespread than previously thought. Complacency towards the problem must end, say TI.
Evidence from Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers revealed that payments made by Sun journalists to a wide range of public officials were periodic, regular, and often substantial. These payments cannot be justified as being made in the public interest, say TI. They appear to have been made corruptly to gain an unfair advantage over other journalists who did not think it necessary to pay bribes to sell news stories. Bribery is a criminal offence which should be punished. It cannot be tolerated in UK society, TI add.
Last year Transparency International UK published a report which found that the growing threat of corruption in the UK is often met with denial, and that key institutions are refusing to confront the problem.
Chandu Krishnan, Executive Director of Transparency International UK, said “These revelations confirm that it is time for our society to wake up to the fact that corruption is a problem which needs a zero tolerance approach from all UK sectors. Complacency is no longer an option.
“Far from having a chilling effect on journalism, the Leveson Inquiry should be a spur to ethical reforms in those sections of the media, police and government where currently there is a substantial deficit in governance and ethics.”
