No way to run a country!

Robert Peston, the sometimes quite odd BBC business correspondent, is back from his holidays and back to blogging with this post on British political party funding.

No doubt the ways in which political parties in this country are funded will not be a surprise to most. That the donations to both of the main parties seem to emanate largely from groups or individuals with a clear and direct advantage from gaining influence will also not be a revelation. However given the history of scandal and abuse that MP's have proven is not uncommon amongst out ruling classes, in 2010 there must be a better way to fund British politics.

The often touted alternative to the current system is state funded political parties. The problems with this system are far to numerous to mention here, suffice is to say that under a state funded system taxpayer money would be paid to the BNP and that should be reason enough to object to the idea. However the current influence wielded by political backers seems almost equally objectionable.

It could be argued that I am over doing it. Despite the entire political class being funded largely by minority interest groups, party policies are broadly considerate of the majority. However as any lawyer will know in reality most British law although based on a premise considered for the majority, is rife with special interest provision and exception. When taken in totality some special interest groups or individuals can seemingly command huge power and influence in the real world despite their minority status in society.

Of course consideration of special interest is key to good legislation. A blanket policy which is enacted across the board without consideration of special interest is likely to be damaging and invoke unintended consequences, however at present the consideration of minority positions and special interest seems limited only to those lobbying the 'honorable' members of parliament.

Of course Winston Churchill got it right when he said 'Democracy is the worst form of government. . . except for all the others'.

If you would like to comment on this post, please click 'comments' below.