How could the Prime Minister be so careless when it comes to donations? - Andy Brown

This is bad enough when it is simply a matter of those with wealth and influence openly making donations to a political party because they believe it is the one that best represents their own views.

In 2023 the Conservative Party received £9,912,101 from donors and Labour £8,690,645.

Some of those who make the largest contributions are entirely public spirited people who expect nothing in return for helping a cause they believe in. It would be naïve to think that everyone is so generous. Many will expect something in return.

At its least worrying this involves honours, knighthoods and seats in the House of Lords being handed out rather more frequently to those who made large gifts than their contribution to the country might really have warranted. That kind of cash for honours scandal has been going on since the time when Lloyd George was Prime Minister, but it continues to undermine public confidence in the honesty of the system.

Yet it is the less obvious and more insidious impact of back door lobbying that is not always so openly declared which is really dangerous.

There are some powerful individuals, organisations and countries out there that will pay a great deal for influence. Elon Musk thought it was worth $44bn to buy twitter so that he could use it to give credibility to some very dark and very daft theories that serve his own self interest. Russia spends serious money on influencing Western elections and referenda via its own manipulation of social media. China owns Tik Tok. Saudi Arabia spends millions on lobbying to persuade people that a country that locks up women for what they say is a reliable ally.

Closer to home there are some very powerful business interests which put a lot of effort into influencing government policy. A year or so before the last election building developers started to meet regularly with Labour Party policy makers to get their points across. One of the first actions of the incoming government was to announce changes to planning laws that show the impact of that influence.

Even when there is not the least intention of changing policy or using power on behalf of those who are lobbying, any politician who gets too close to a lobbying organisation risks damaging their reputation and the credibility of the entire electoral system.

So it matters when it is reported that the party of our Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has taken £175,000 in campaign donations from organisations who lobby in favour of private health care. It matters that 40 per cent of the new Cabinet have accepted donations from pro-Israel lobbying groups. It matters that the last government met with oil and gas lobbyists an average of 1.4 times a day during the cost of living crisis which saw fossil fuel companies chalk up record profits whilst customers paid record bills. It also matters when the Prime Minister of the incoming government accepts donations to pay for clothing.

After the series of corruption scandals that so badly undermined the outgoing government many people hoped that the incoming Ministers would prove ultra careful to ensure that there was not the slightest risk of any suspicion that they might be tempted into enjoying the perks of office.

So what crossed the mind of our new Prime Minister when he decided to accept direct payment from a wealthy friend to improve the quality of the family wardrobe?

Anyone who has ever worked in the public sector will know that there is a clear code of conduct which sets out that you shouldn’t accept gifts of any value. Any civil servant handing out a government contract is meant to be pure as the driven snow and it genuinely is very rare for anyone to risk their career by accepting even a small gift for speaking at a conference.

It is important that the same self-discipline and respect for integrity should be shown by the leader of our country. How is it possible for someone who is bright enough to reach the highest office in the land to be so lacking in judgement and so utterly careless of their own reputation that they accept a gift of this kind?

On the streets in this election I heard again and again the assertion that ‘They are all at it’.

They aren’t. Some politicians are remarkably honest, hard working and dedicated. Others are at best easily influenced by well funded lobbying organisations, sometimes remarkably naïve, or downright open to accepting gifts in return for exercising their influence. Our Prime Minister needs to take a lot more care not to fall into that category.

Andy Brown is the Green Party councillor for Aire Valley in North Yorkshire.