Southampton Test's Labour MP, Alan Whitehead, is extremely keen on the state funding of political parties (see link to a paper on his website). In my view he is totally wrong.
His bankrupt Labour party is already using a phenominal amount of tax payers money to fund it's electoral ends. The Conservative Party has today revealed that the Labour Government has trippled the amount of money spent on Whitehall spin doctors since 1997. They now spend over £300,000,000.00 a year on PR men. Furthermore, analysis shows that spending increases dramatically at election time, suggesting that Labour are using tax payers money to sell their key election policies.
Since 1997 Labour have heaped more and more taxation on the country and wasted money on armies of press officers. They have politicised the Civil Service and created a cuture of spin at the heart of Government. Now Alan Whitehead is suggesting that we give even more of our money to Labour to help bankroll their bankrupt party!
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Alan Whitehead is consistently out of touch with public opinion. Be it is his support for the expensive and unnecessary housing information packs (which has now meant Southampton it one of the first areas to have a trial inflicted upon its residents), compulsory ID cards, his opposition to nuclear powered Royal Navy vessels visiting Southampton, his accepting corporate hospitality from McDonalds during the world cup or failing to back trust schools, he backs every wrong horse.
His support for the public to fund the Labour Party’s activities via taxpayer is just a recent example of his wrong thinking.
How many of his constituents would support their hard-earned money being used to pay just one consultant £250,000.00 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/29/nlab29.xml
Or even more shockingly given the ineffectiveness of its results, the decision to give the Prime-Minister’s wife Cherie Blair £7,700 towards the cost of her haircuts during the last general election from Labour Party funds.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/cherie/story/0,,1758919,00.html
No Mr Whitehead is wrong- it is fine for the Labour Party to raise and spend their money in this way if they raise it themselves but not to use public money.
It must surely be much better for democracy if political parties raise their own funds, it encourages participation in the political process.
Oh and Mr Whitehead, raise the funds ethically.
Ethically Mr Whitehead.
www.MattDeanSoton.blogspot.com
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