All the major parties seem to have been implicated in various corrupt and underhand practices to raise funds, and are often perceived as being in hock to particular individuals and interest groups. Is it time to consider state funding of parties? Would you be happy to see your taxes going to neo-Labour, the Tories, the BNP or the SWP? Personally I'm instinctively against the idea: I'd like to see parties relying entirely on their membership subs, and only allowed to accept donations from party members. That would probaly entail a massive scaling down of their actitivities, but they would just have to cut their coat to suit their cloth.
I think we've shot ourselves in the foot, apparently the word "Altruism" no longer exists. We'll all end up funding out of our taxes. We are so convinced that selfish greed is the motivator of all our behaviour, "greed is good" (I still hate the bastards for that really), that we assume every donation over a fiver is a given with expectation of reward. tbh who gives a monkeys what labels the rich are able to buy they're still going to be the rich whatever, and influence on government policy from the wealthy will still continue also, they all share the same bed after all.
I definitely wouldn't want to see state funding for political parties. I'd be disgusted to think that even a penny of mine could ever go to the BNP. Better to tighten regulations and impose stricter spending limits on election campaigns. Just be thankful we haven't got to where America is, with the two main parties spending close to a quarter of a billion dollars each on their campaigns. It's the best democracy money can buy....
Money makes corrupted all of us. It is ashame that this money donation thing has spiralled out of control. I don't wonder why. I am just certain never to vote again, unless it is for a trustworthy party. The truth is, you can't trust any party. They all say the same things and contradict each other when they want presidence.
What does the BNP stand for? British something Party (?) i know its racist and all but i can never remember what it means...
Although to gain a party political broadcast, you have to stand in a minimum number of seats, around 150 I think. In each seat you have to put down a £500 deposit, which you only get back if you gain over 5% of the vote. I think the BNP lost their deposits in all but a handful of (might even be 1) seats. Which means the process they used to ensure a little bit of public money hosted five minutes of their airtime, also ensured they lost far more than they ever gained. The party, I believe, is in some considerably financial difficulty....
It stands for the British National Party. They are racist.....apparently. I wouldn't vote for BNP. i would vote for the Libdems.
One problem with State funding , the whole thing is rigged by other forces and formal so called "political funding" is only a tiny part of it. The civill servants , judiciary , major coporations , so called independent think tanks - which are just lobbying clubs run by the families of the super rich establishment , and the media , all of these conspire to destroy any debate about the truth. Its obvious , you choose the questions and what are the "facts" - so you predetermnine the answers , and who is the governement Remember when we only had 3 or 4 television stations - the establishment didnt want any more because it would "lower the standard of broadcasting" AHEM... Well just imagine if the unions and similar groups had set up television channels against the tripe that is the BBC and ITV- the political debate would be shifted to the left by a massive amount. Now Murdoch and co have a stranglehold on new television and the unions have been massively weakened. The only hope for more proper political debate is the internet. But the new weapon of the establishment will be "voting machines" ie rigged elections.
and the answer is, no television, no newspapers, no political parties I know lets find a big friendly kindhearted cuddly leader who will make everything all right for everybody, no more sickness, no more poverty, no more greed, no more hate, ah but how would we find him ?
