Sir Hayden proposes a limit of £50,000

10.20.50am GMT Fri 16th Mar 2007

Sir Hayden proposes a limit of £50,000

Sir Hayden Phillips, who has been looking into Party funding, has proposed a limit of £50,000 from individuals or organisations, increased state funding and a cut in spending between elections. Overall this package seems to be good news, but as always the devil is in the detail. I am less sure about a £23million a year increase in state funding.

The Union issue is still not completely resolved, if the donations can be traced back to individuals then it would appear larger donations would be allowed. This will lead to calls for business donations being allowed to be traced back to shareholders and the such like, I cannot see the Conservatives being happy with this element of the proposals.

The main proposals are:

£50,000 limit on donations

Cut spending by about £20m each by main parties over a parliament

Raise state funding by £23m a year

Parties get 50p a year for each vote in general elections, plus 25p a year for each vote in other elections

Online donations of £5 per person matched by state funding