Electoral Commission 'unsatisfied' with UK parties
Electoral Commission 'unsatisfied' with UK parties
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Wednesday, 29, Mar 2006 10:34
Parliament's political watchdog, the Electoral Commission, has said it believes Britain's main political parties have not provided enough information about loans they have received.
All the main parties provided the commission with a list of major loans after businessmen who lent Labour millions of pounds before the general election were subsequently awarded peerages.
But in a statement issued earlier today the Electoral Commission claimed the UK's larger parties were attempting to justify not disclosing some loans because they regarded them as being made on a commercial basis.
"Reports recently quoting both lenders and party representatives have raised doubts over whether parties were right to regard them in this way," the watchdog said.
"In our view, questions remain about whether these previous loans were made on commercial terms, and therefore whether parties are right to maintain that no element of them should have been reported as a donation."
If Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the other main parties fail to comply with the latest requests, the Electoral Commission has legal powers to force disclosure of every kind of loan, commercial or otherwise.
"If necessary, we would be prepared to exercise these powers to obtain the information we require to judge whether a political party has fully complied with the law," the statement concluded.
Earlier today the Metropolitan police announced it would consider investigating corruption charges against Labour, taking the long-running 'cash-for-titles' furore a step closer to unveiling potentially damaging revelations about the inner workings of Britain's political parties.