“UK Democracy is Not for Sale” Says TI-UK

Transparency International UK is calling for party funding reform in the wake of the resignation of Conservative party co-treasurer Peter Cruddas after it was revealed that he offered access to the Prime Minister and Chancellor for up to £250,000.

Transparency International UK Executive Director, Chandu Krishnan, said “This shocking revelation underscores the need for urgent reforms to clean up political party funding in the UK. Access to the government should not be for sale to the highest bidder. The imposition of a ceiling on political party donations of, say, £10,000 would prevent such scandals from recurring with alarming frequency.

"Parliament also needs to act with urgency to enact legislation for a mandatory register of all lobbying activity so that the UK public knows who is lobbying whom for what, and how much they are paying for it. Without these urgent reforms, public trust in politicians will be further eroded”

Notes to Editors:

Transparency International UK outlined the corruption vulnerabilities within the current party funding system in its recent report, Corruption in the UK