Isabel Hardman
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Ministers have clearly decided to use a scandal about lobbying to crack down on the influence that trade unions hold over the Labour party, which is a non-sequitur. The weekend’s allegations were about MPs and peers behaving badly, not trade union influence, and the government may find that its desire to seize the moment on this issue makes life a bit awkward as the legislation progresses. The current proposal involves redefining third-party funding in controlled election campaign expenditure. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘It will apply to two types of organisation: those directly affiliated to political parties and those contributing £100,000 a year or more to political parties.’ That’s trade unions, who will also lose the self-certification system for their membership lists. The statutory register of lobbyists will also form a part of this bill, but it will be the plans affecting trade unions that will attract the most attention.
Meanwhile if you’re an MP guilty of high jinks while in Parliament, you can rest easy: a power of recall for constituents dissatisfied with their representative’s performance won’t appear until next year, meaning those currently cheesing off their voters can remain until the 2015 general election. It’s not entirely clear that today’s proposals will dramatically increase accountability and standards in Parliament.
Because you read about trade unions
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