The Tories want to spend big in their pursuit of power
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Version 0 of 1. David Cameron has failed to deliver his promises to balance the nation’s books and failed to help hardworking families balance theirs. The Tories want to cut the state back to the level it was in the 1930s and now we know they want to buy an election they don’t deserve to win. The Tories cannot rely on the will of the people to return them to power, so they rejected the independent Electoral Commission’s formal recommendation on spending limits to increase the total to £32.7m. This is a party flush with big money backers but without the empathy or ideas the country needs so they are rigging the rules of our democracy in their favour. When he was first leader of the opposition, David Cameron said he wanted to take the big money out of politics. He promised to address the “big donor culture”, arguing that we should “cut what is spent on a general election”. Yet he has now cynically changed his tune. Desperate to hang on to power, the Tories have quietly changed the rules to allow them to spend big in the run up to the election. The changes would allow them to spend millions more than they’re presently allowed, paving the way for Tory propaganda to flood constituencies. it would mean they would be able to spend £9.2m in the short campaign and £23.5m in the long campaign, now just days away. Labour agreed with the Electoral Commission’s proposed rise, but the Tories doubled it to give them an additional £5,000 per key seat, which will buy millions of leaflets and thousands of billboards. They even went as far as to skew the formula to advantage predominantly Tory-held constituencies. With only a record of failure to run on, David Cameron’s campaign is reliant on smear, fear and fat cats’ cheque books. Since 2002, the Tories have taken a staggering £52m from the hedge fund industry. This parliament they have taken more from hedge funds than in any other. Their backers include reported tax exiles and tax avoiders, those involved in short-selling and Libor rigging. In return, the hedge fund sector has received a £145m tax cut from David Cameron, as have the many millionaires who grace their offices. Since the election the Tories have also received £6m from secretive unincorporated associations – clubs that don’t need to reveal where all their money comes from. This includes the controversial United & Cecil club, whose honorary secretary is a former tobacco lobbyist and which is funnelling money to the Tories’ target seats through exclusive dinners. And the Tories are running scared: 60% of Tory key seat funding since 2010 has gone direct to firming up seats they already hold. Squeezed by Ukip and faced with rebellious backbenchers and a haemorrhaging membership, David Cameron has retreated to the right, killing compassionate Conservatism through actions and attitude. The bedroom tax, thousands of sacked NHS staff and tax cuts for those at the top have been accompanied by outbursts from Lord Freud, David Mellor, Andrew Mitchell and Mark Garnier, which reveal an unreconstructed nasty core beneath the surface of a policy programme that puts a privileged few first. The Tories may have heavy pockets, but working people can’t say the same. Wages are down by more than £1,600 a year since 2010, borrowing is a staggering £219bn more than planned and NHS waiting lists are the longest they have been for six years. Labour can’t match the depths of Tory pockets, nor will we stoop to their depths, but we can beat them through the depth of our determination and desire. As Ed Miliband and Ed Balls have set out, Labour’s plan to raise livings standards for all is based on a credible and sensible goal to balance the books and get the national debt falling as soon as possible within the next parliament. But Britain will only be able to deal with the deficit by tackling the cost-of-living crisis, which is why Labour’s plan includes raising the minimum wage, expanding free childcare for working parents and cutting business rates for small firms. We will also save and transform our NHS with a £2.5bn time to care fund to increase frontline staff. While the Tories are bankrolled by City elites, we will proudly fight a campaign where the bulk of our funding comes from small donors and working people from all walks of life. Labour is a movement rooted in the realities of people’s lives. We have invested in community organising, regional organisers and digital campaigning, but if the Tories outspend us by £3 to £1, we will outnumber them with activists on the streets by the same margin. David Cameron cannot justify his decision to reject the Electoral Commission’s recommendation on the rules of engagement for the battle ahead. He does not want a level playing field. The Tories want to run the country, not change the way the country is run. Labour wants to put working people first. Only Labour has the people, the policies and the plan that can stop David Cameron from buying this election. Lucy Powell is Labour MP for Manchester Central and shadow minister for the cabinet office |