I don't know how many people may have come across this before, but in 2004 a report was published by the special Power Commission looking into ways in which democracy in Britain could be reinvigorated. There were many interesting suggestions, but I think that one in particular stood out.

The unions only represent a small proportion of society

Once again there has been a round of speculation in the press on the state of Labour's finances, but party members are not being told what is really happening.

The latest donations and borrowing data from the Electoral Commission revealed Labour's net indebtedness in Q4 2007 was slightly higher while donations were sharply lower. The Party's dependence on its traditional financial supporters - the trade unions has increased, while TU members' readiness to fund Labour is facing increasing opposition from rank-and-file members.

I spent this morning leafletting in the Labour marginal seat of Westminster North, where Karen Buck is the MP. Thousands of leaflets were delivered in that marginal seat today, yet I can't help feeling that the work done by the grassroots on the ground has been more than offset by the politcal blow in the national media from Peter Hain's deputy leadership election arrangements.

As Labour remains adrift in the worst political doldrums since the 1980s, question marks still hover over the future of a number of senior party figures. But will sackings and resignations restore our fortunes or is there something systematically wrong that needs fixing?

It is time for us to be pretty blunt and self-critical as a party, and some big decisions and changes are necessary.  The crisis in the party and the government has reached a critical point, and waiting it out is no longer an option.

I feel it is important to raise this issue, because there is a growing right-wing move to state funding in the party.  As a trade unionist it would only be with my dying breath that I would allow the link  with trade unions and their funding to end.  As the trade unions with the fabian society and the cooperative movement founding this party, OUR PARTY!!, we must not let this happen.

It's not only Tony and his cronies who are facing humiliation over party loans.

Thought I would post this, as it doesn't seem to appear in full elsewhere - least of all on the Labour Party site. Thanks to the redoubtable Ann Black for the original dissemination.  

Statement from Mike Griffiths, Chair of the NEC on behalf of the full NEC:

The  Labour  Party has led the way in introducing transparency into British politics culminating in the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act (2000).  We  therefore welcome the Hayden Phillips enquiry into the future of political funding.

The time has come to end the "arms race" on election expenditure, with a cap on what parties can spend, nationally and locally and for the lifetime of a parliament.  The Labour Party National Executive Committee (NEC) is therefore encouraged by the proposals from Sir Hayden regarding the principle of reducing the spending of political parties.

After consulting with Party members, the Labour Party Conference in 2006 unanimously approved  the Labour Party's detailed submission to the Review on the Future of Party Funding currently being conducted by Sir Hayden Phillips.

The position of the Labour Party, at all levels, has been and remains that as set out in our submission. This position was reiterated by the Prime Minister attending the Parliamentary Labour Party Committee on Wednesday where he made clear that nothing should break the historic link between the Labour Party and the Trade Unions.  The NEC therefore rejects those proposals from
Hayden Phillips that clearly neither respect nor understand the structures and constitution of the Labour Party.

In the Labour Party submission to the review we express the view that any changes need to be workable, respect differing party structures and constitutions and should not reduce fairness and equality by giving one party a funding advantage over another.  For that reason, in our submission we made it clear that the Labour Party cannot accept a statutory uniform donation cap as proposed by the Conservative Party.

This form of donation cap would quickly become unworkable logistically and diminish the political voice of hundreds of thousands of trade unionists at a time when all parties are concerned with widening political engagement. It would also undermine the Labour Party federal structure and seek to amend a system of Trade Union contributions that is already highly transparent and heavily regulated.

Officers and officials of the NEC will continue to vigorously pursue the Labour Party's position in all discussions with Sir Hayden Phillips.

Ends

At the risk of kicking the whole party funding debate off once again, I have further considered the issue of opting in or out of the trade union political levy.

Okay, so I know I'm being provocative with that title, but savour the potential irony of Blair's legacy being to unite (most) of the party. Against breaking the link. Apart from JR, Juvenal and Glass House, I've not come across anyone not outraged by the idea, from Jeremy Beecham to Jon Cruddas to Luke Akehurst, just to name three.

And now, as HenryG has pointed out, even Blairite outriders like Alan Johnson have done a volte face. Come to think of it, so has Tony himself.

I'm fed up with all the accusations against the Labour Party over finances when the Tory books are an exemplar of obfuscation. People seem to forget that we might yet be cleared.

Please could you consider signing this petition - and forwarding it to anyone else who might be interested - calling on David Cameron to answer questions on Tory funding.

Three days ago Politicalbetting.com asked that question.   http://politicalbetting.com/index.php/page/2/

Today we have official Labour statements saying according to the BBC.  
"Labour said it was in the midst of a difficult financial year."   "two of our commercial loans from individual supporters had not been rescheduled and repayment is due".
 

Has everyone seen the rather pernicious ads placed in the papers today on party political funding?

The Liberal Democrats seem to me to have been pretty quiet on the issue of reform to party funding - happy to try to exploit the 'loans for peerages' issue, but less forthcoming about reforms. Perhaps understandably, given their little local difficulty with the Michael Brown donation.

But perhaps the other reason for quiet is because they stand to lose a significant source of funding from a cap on donations.

The National Executive Committee of the Labour Party has agreed the party's submission to the current review of party funding and the document will be discussed and debated at Annual Conference.

The Labour Party press release can be read here and the submission can be downloaded here.

It's time that those of us who blog about Labour used the internet to highlight the Tory hypocrisy on party funding.

Our own self-inflicted wounds on this topic may stop the national party from attacking as much as they could - but there is no need for this to stop individual activists from going on the offensive.

Democratic reform is needed to preserve the historic Labour-Union Link.

This morning the Electoral Commission has published the accounts of all parties whose income or expenditure is above £250,000.

All accounts are as of 31 December 2005