Today we welcomed the review by Philip Rycroft into countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics. The review rightly identifies a loss of trust in our democratic system and processes, and the importance of securing our democracy from those who seek to undermine it.
The review makes many excellent recommendations that we have been calling for, including a moratorium on crypto donations, strengthening the corporate donations test, tighter regulation of online political advertising and increasing enforcement around political finance. The review also recommends a cap on donations from voters living overseas.
The Secretary of State responded to the report in Parliament today, confirming that the government will be amending the Representation of the People Bill to introduce a £100,000 cap on overseas donations and a temporary ban on cryptocurrency donations of any amount. They will also respond to the other recommendations.
Why not cap all donations?
The Representation of the People Bill would be greatly strengthened by taking on the recommendations of Rycroft’s report. However, the government must go further and also bring in a cap on how much all donors can give to a party, not just those based abroad. This is widely supported by the public and would help prevent our politics from being swamped with massive donations, which now frequently reach into the multiple millions.
Donations in the millions from private sources have increased significantly over time. In the year prior to the 2024 General Election, political parties received 18 separate donations of £1 million or more. Totalling almost £41 million this represents 32% of the total party donations within that period. In total, nearly a third of donations to political parties in the pre-election regulated period came from just nine sources.
It is crucial that the public always trusts that politicians are acting in their interest and not of those with the deepest pockets. Our politics should not be for sale to the highest bidder or left open to the influence of hostile foreign powers.
The ERS fed into the Rycroft Review
We are grateful to have met with Philip Rycroft and had the opportunity to raise our concerns as part of the review process. It is very welcome that the review has taken a comprehensive approach to these issues and suggested a wide range of significant changes.
The rules around money in politics need to be strengthened to ensure that politicians are always focused on the needs of voters, not donors.
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