Congratulations to the Sunday Times for today's scoop about cash-for-access and the chance to lobby the Prime Minister. What makes the story outstanding is the secret footage of (now resigned) Conservative Party co-treasurer Peter Cruddas talking about what you get for your money.
But the basic menu-with-prices is, and has been for years, on the Conservative Party website: Party Patrons, from £50/month, The Front Bench Club (£5,000/year) and so on, all the way through to the Leader's Group (£50,000/year.)
I have to say I don't see anything really new in any of this, except the breathtaking audacity of the fundraising. I remember attending a Labour Party conference once where the soon-to-collapse US energy company Enron was sponsoring a function. Enron was later allowed to take over Wessex Water, without reference to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. There was the inevitable five-minute-scandal, with the Conservatives demanding an inquiry.
The rest is history - and history repeats itself, over and over. Sometimes, with party political funding stories, I struggle to distinguish between farce and tragedy. Only last year the Committee for Standards in Public Life said political parties should get an extra £23m of taxpayers' money to reduce reliance on "big money" donations. It also recommended a £10,000 annual cap on individual donations from 2015. At present there are no limits on donations, but the name of anyone who gives more than £7,500 to a party is made public.
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