Electoral Commission releases party donations data: Politics Live blog
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Version 0 of 1. 5.31pm GMT17:31 Afternoon summary That’s all from me for this week. Tomorrow it will be over to you for the Politics Live - readers’ edition. Andrew will be back on Monday. I’ve really enjoyed reading your comments this week. Thanks for having me. 5.31pm GMT17:31 Conservative party chairman Grant Shapps has responded to a letter from Ed Miliband to the prime minister urging him to set out his plans on EU reform. There was no greater uncertainty for business and families than when the last Labour government left Britain on its knees. Under the Conservatives, we’ve seen manufacturing returning to our shores, the fastest growth in the developed world and a record number of people with jobs. We’ll give the British people the say they deserve with an in/out referendum. Ed Miliband is too weak to even do that. 5.01pm GMT17:01 Ed Miliband has been in the north-west today setting out his vision for a Britain under a Labour government. The Guardian’s northern editor Helen Pidd went to hear him speak: Ed Miliband rocked up at Nelson and Colne college in Pendle this afternoon for one of his People’s Question Time sessions, where he answers questions from real people his aides promise have not been planted in the audience. Two questions in the 80-minute session were about immigration, both from younger members of the audience. One 16-year-old, who later confessed to be a card-carrying Ukip member (they get younger every year), accused Miliband of lying over immigration. How could he promise to curb immigration while keeping Britain in the EU? asked A-level student Pearce Hewitt from Barnsley. Miliband seemed to relish the question. “Now Pearce,” he said - Miliband loves to address people by their first names and sometimes he even gets them right. “I’m glad you asked that question. You’ve got some people who say we would be better off outside the European Union...I profoundly disagree with that because I think that for our trade, for us as a country, we are much, much better off as an outward looking country inside the European Union, not outside it.” Britain couldn’t hope to tackle the big issues of the day – global carbon emissions and international terrorism – alone, Miliband said, before suggesting Pearce broaden his mind. “You’re entitled to your view, but I would say to somebody of your generation in particular, the world’s coming closer together, not further apart. And therefore the idea that we detach ourselves from the rest of the world and close our borders, I just don’t buy.” Another young lad suggested immigrants were pushing the NHS to collapse, using an analogy about a cafe which only seats 40 people suddenly having to serve 60. Miliband didn’t flinch. “I think immigration has has benefits for our country, and I want to say that to you straight,” he said. “You talk about the NHS, remember lots and lots of people working in the NHS, caring for all of us, have come here from other countries... What’s actually happening in the NHS is you have people who are healing the sick, looking after the old, helping babies to be born who come here from other countries. The NHS wouldn’t be standing up if it wasn’t for people from other countries. But the Labour leader said “fair rules” were essential. Immigrants shouldn’t be able to claim benefits “for the first couple of years”, he said, and there should be laws to stop employers exploiting migrant labour to undercut local wages. 4.53pm GMT16:53 While visiting the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk today, the prime minister was asked to respond to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s recent expression of “regret and sorrow” for the Dresden bombings. David Cameron said that bomber command played an “absolutely vital role in our war effort” and are “heroes of our country”. One of the things I was very proud to do as Prime Minister was make sure people who served in Bomber Command got proper recognition with a new clasp on their medals and it was a great honour to hand out some of those medals to people who had waited for many, many years for the recognition I think they deserve. I’m very lucky to occasionally get to jog around St James’s Park in London and I always stop and look up at the Bomber Command memorial which has been so recently built and dedicated, and stop and think about those very brave people who took enormous risks with incredible loss of life on our behalf to save Europe, save Britain, from fascism and from Hitler. Speaking to a church service attended by German President Joachim Gauck last week, Justin Welby said: “Much debate surrounds this most controversial raid of the Allied bombing campaign. Whatever the arguments, events here 70 years ago left a deep wound and diminished all our humanity. So, as a follower of Jesus, I stand here among you with a profound feeling of regret and deep sorrow.” Incidentally Cameron's defence of the Dresden bombers triggered the only spontaneous applause during his speech. Allied bombing raids on Dresden between 13 and 15 February 1945 left around 25,000 civilians dead. The bombing and resulting firestorm destroyed over 1,600 acres of the city’s centre. Updated at 4.58pm GMT 4.14pm GMT16:14 The Democratic Unionist Party has said that it will seek a judicial review of the BBC’s decision not to invite them to take part in TV election debates. In a statement, a party spokesperson said: If a regional party with three MPs [Plaid Cymru] is in the televised general election debates then another regional party with eight MPs and more votes should be there too. This election is unlike any election in over a generation. Many commentators predict the DUP will hold the balance of power in the next parliament. Since we will play a central role after the election then it is right that we play a full role in the pre-election debates. Here’s the Guardian article from a few weeks ago, when the DUP and Sinn Féin said they were considering legal action over being excluded from the election debates. Updated at 4.23pm GMT 3.49pm GMT15:49 The Evening Standard is reporting that Labour peer Andrew Adonis has ruled himself out of the London mayoral race, saying he will back betting-favourite Dame Tessa Jowell. The former transport secretary told the paper: What we need in London is the Olympic spirit applied to solving the housing crisis in our capital. Tessa Jowell’s track record of planning and leading the 2012 Olympics shows that she has got that spirit and all of the qualities to be an outstanding mayor. Four Labour candidates have declared their intention to run so far – Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington; David Lammy, former universities minister and MP for Tottenham; Christian Wolmar, journalist, author and railway historian; and Dame Tessa Jowell, former cabinet minister and MP for Dulwich and West Norwood. Potential Labour candidates include – Sadiq Khan, shadow secretary of state for justice and MP for Tooting; Oona King, former MP for Bethnal Green and Bow and candidate for Mayor in 2012; and Doreen Lawrence, Baroness Lawrence, mother of Stephen Lawrence, campaigner. Margaret Hodge, Alan Johnson and Ken Livingstone have all ruled themselves out of the race to be Labour’s candidate in the London mayoral election in May 2016. 3.30pm GMT15:30 In some non-donations related news, Ed Miliband has written to David Cameron urging him to set out his plans for EU reform. Here’s an extract from the letter – Dear Prime Minister, Great businesses across Britain need certainty to plan ahead, knowing that the markets on which they depend will still be open to them in the years ahead and that the inward investment that drives growth will continue to flow. But your government is causing a great deal of uncertainty. More than two years have passed since you promised to set out in detail your plan to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with Europe. But you have still not given any more than the broadest of hints what reforms you want, how you expect to achieve them, or what people would be voting on in a referendum for which for you have set an arbitrary deadline of 2017. You will not even state whether you would still be advocating the UK remaining in Europe. I am writing today to urge you to make good on your commitment to set out in detail a reform agenda for the EU and a strategy for building the alliances needed to deliver it. ... I look forward to you setting out your reply. 3.25pm GMT15:25 Here’s some more Twitter reaction to the data released by the Electoral Commission today: Not one but 3 Tory donors in latest stats turn out to be on @guardian HSBC client list. See http://t.co/PIinMIH4cq for deets From their figures, I'm not sure Labour understands the difference between 'hedge funds' and 'any company connected with finance'. @kiranstacey Wasn't Ed Balls involved with paying a hedge fund £10 in cash (but asking for a receipt) ? @MrHarryCole 3.12pm GMT15:12 Labour reacts to PwC donor criticism The Labour party has also defended itself against accusations of hypocrisy in relation to their acceptance of a donation of £386,605 worth of staff costs from PricewaterhouseCoopers. They say that the company is non-party political and has long provided policy research support for opposition parties to make up for the fact that they do not have the civil service at their disposal. A Labour party spokesperson said: PwC have provided long standing staff support to all three major political parties on a non-Party basis, as happened for the Conservatives and Lib Dems before the last election. Given the complexity of government decisions in areas such as tax policy - and that opposition parties do not have significant access to civil servants - the support provided by organisations such as these helps ensure that there is better scrutiny of Government policy. The secondments provided by these companies are often relatively newly qualified staff. Secondees do not influence opposition policy decisions. Where organisations provide staff to support research and analysis for opposition parties it is right that these are declared - as currently happens - in the Register of Members’ Interests. Updated at 5.11pm GMT 2.52pm GMT14:52 The Labour party has done some analysis on the new data from the Electoral Commission which suggests that hedge fund donors gave the Conservative party £2m over last last quarter of 2014. They say this means the party took a total of £55m from donors associated with hedge funds since records began in 2001. They say that hedge funds were also given a tax cut worth £145m by George Osborne in 2013. Labour’s shadow cabinet office minister, Jonathan Ashworth MP, said: The Tory election campaign is increasingly reliant on those who dine exclusively at the Prime Minister’s top table and a select few from the world of finance. While this government has made working people worse off, hedge funds and millionaires have been given a tax break by David Cameron. The Tories’ plan is failing working families because their priority has been to help a few at the top. The choice at this election has now been crystallised. This government’s failing plan which puts hedge funds and vested interests first, or a better future built on the success of working families and raises living standards for all. Updated at 3.02pm GMT 2.32pm GMT14:32 Speaking on the BBC’s the World at One, Tory MP and chair of the Commons defence committee, Rory Stewart, warned that tensions between the UK and Russia could escalate if Western policy makers aren’t careful. This is the razor edge which Western policy makers need to walk. If they do nothing, Putin who is a real opportunist, will be encouraged to push his luck and see if he can humiliate Nato. If on the other hand we do too much, we could risk provoking an overreaction. He said that the UK was facing a “a genuinely dangerous situation” and urged political parties to make long-term spending commitments spending money on defence. 2.23pm GMT14:23 Russia's deputy foreign minister responds to Fallon's comments Russia’s deputy foreign minister has responded to defence secretary Michael Fallon’s remarks that Russia posed a “real and present danger” and could de-stabilise the Baltic States. In a statement reported by Russia Today, Aleksandr Lukashevich said his words were “beyond diplomatic ethics” and warned that the Kremlin would “find a way to react”. “His absolutely unacceptable characteristics of the Russian Federation remind me of last year’s speech of US president Barack Obama before the UN general assembly, in which he mentioned Russia among the three most serious challenges his country was facing,” said Lukashevich. “I believe we will find a way to react to Mr Secretary’s statements.” Speaking in Felixstowe the prime minister commented on the news that two Russian planes were escorted away from British airspace by RAF jets. Here are the quotes in full: First of all let me deal with the issue of these Russian planes, and I want to reassure people, when this happens, what we do is we launch our Typhoon aircraft, and they escort these planes out of the UK area of interest. When this happened most recently, at no time did the Russian military aircraft cross into UK sovereign airspace. I think what this episode demonstrates is that we do have the fast jets, the pilots, the systems in place to protect the United Kingdom. I suspect what’s happening here is the Russians are trying to make some sort of a point, and I don’t think we should dignify it with too much of a response. 1.28pm GMT13:28 Lunchtime summary 1.22pm GMT13:22 A commenter (TheGreatBaldo) has just pointed out this story. It seems Ukip leader Nigel Farage won’t be attending his party’s Scottish campaign launch, but will speak to supporters at the event via video link. The campaign event will take place on Saturday at Renfield St Stephens Church Centre in Glasgow. Ukip explained the decision by saying that Farage is focusing on his campaign to get elected in Thanet. Blair Smillie, the great grandson of Labour Party founding member Robert Smillie, and Ukip’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Alyn and Deeside, will make a speech at the campaign launch urging “blue-collar” workers to support Ukip. Updated at 1.24pm GMT 12.53pm GMT12:53 Here’s some reaction to the Electoral Commission data from Twitter: Lots of people are commenting on the donation of £386,605 worth of staff costs to the Labour party by PwC after Margaret Hodge’s comments about the company helping tax avoiders. Massive problem for Labour now. Will surely have to give PWC donation back. Especially after Hodge comments. Also, didn't Ed say in the Commons no donations had been accepted from tax avpiders on his watch? Labour source says Conservatives have taken £55m in cash from hedge funds since 2001 Labour source: members of Conservative Leader's Club gave Tories 3.9m in last qtr of last year Updated at 1.26pm GMT 12.16pm GMT12:16 In light of the new data from the Electoral Commission on political party donations, The Telegraph is re-surfacing comments made by Labour MP Margaret Hodge – chair of the Commons public accounts committee – about the accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, who gave £386,605 to the Labour Party in the last quarter. Hodge has previously said that it was “inappropriate” for her party to accept donations from the company and a report by her committee said the firm takes part in “nothing short of the promotion of tax avoidance on an industrial scale”. Here’s the Guardian article on the the committee’s report. Updated at 12.17pm GMT 11.58am GMT11:58 Electoral commission publishes political party donations data The electoral commission has just released data on donations given to political parties in the last quarter of 2014. Eight political parties reported accepting a total of £20,326,862 in donations between 1 October and 31 December 2014. For comparison, during the final quarter of 2009, in the run up to the 2010 general election, the total amount of donations to political parties was £17,419,277. The total amount in donations and loans given to political parties in 2014 was £65.7m, considerably higher than the £35.8m given in 2013. The five political parties with the most in donations in the final quarter of 2014 were: Here’s a table of the top ten donors: 11.50am GMT11:50 My colleague Elena Cresci has unearthed a picture of one of the racist Chelsea fans filmed on the Paris metro posing with Ukip leader Nigel Farage. You can read the Guardian story here. Chelsea fan in Paris Métro video posed in picture with Nigel Farage http://t.co/iZjflViLZm pic.twitter.com/ZlFBVnOqRk 11.31am GMT11:31 Ashcroft polling shows Ukip within striking distance of Tory seats New polling from Lord Ashcroft suggests that although Ukip are within striking distance of Conservative marginal seats, they aren’t as close as they might have hoped. Ashcroft looked in depth at four constituencies where it has been suggested that Ukip pose a challenge to the Conservatives: Boston & Skegness, Castle Point, South Basildon & East Thurrock and North East Cambridgeshire. The Conservatives were 21 points ahead in North East Cambridgeshire, despite a 13% swing to Ukip, but the euro-sceptic party are closer to victory in the other three seats. The polling suggests that Ukip is six points behind the Tories in South Basildon & East Thurrock; three points behind in Boston & Skegness; and one point behind in Castle Point. In the four seats as a whole, 22% of 2010 Conservative voters who named a party said they would vote for UKIP in May. More than one fifth (21%) of 2010 Labour voters said they would switch to UKIP, as did 23% of 2010 Lib Dems. CCHQ view on @LordAshcroft latest poll will be that @UKIP has to squeeze Labour hard to win these seats. Difficult. http://t.co/XcrQPIvudY Updated at 1.23pm GMT 11.01am GMT11:01 Nick Clegg sets out his party's manifesto commitments on childcare Nick Clegg is giving a speech to the Pre-School Learning Alliance in Central London, outlining Liberal Democrat manifesto commitments on childcare. Here’s a summary – So, a commitment to universal free early years education from 2 to 4 year olds; extra support for working parents with childcare; a boosted Early Years Pupil Premium; and a highly qualified early years workforce given the status they deserve. That’s the Liberal Democrat’s vision for a world-class early years education system. We are the only party with the clear commitment and plan, backed with the funding needed, to make it happen. We want a stronger economy and fairer society for Britain, where every child – whatever their circumstances or background – gets the best possible start in life. So, keep working with us, and I and my party will continue to do everything we can to build a more successful and more family friendly country fit for our children to grow up in. Updated at 11.09am GMT 10.28am GMT10:28 New research from the Evangelical Alliance out today suggests that the Conservatives may be about to lose thousands of evangelical Christian voters. The survey questioned 2,020 members of the alliance – which says it is an umbrella organisation for up to 2 million evangelical Christians – in August and September 2014 and found that 40 per cent were going to change their vote from 2010. Conservative support fell from 40 per cent to 28 per cent, compared to Labour support which grew from 22 per cent to 31 per cent. Liberal Democrat support also fell, while Ukip grew from 2 per cent to 12 per cent. The results of the survey come after the Church of England ruffled feathers by issuing a letter urging churchgoers to engage with politics and outlining hopes for political parties to discern “a fresh moral vision of the kind of country we want to be” before the general election in May. 10.16am GMT10:16 The Ministry of Defence has released a statement saying that two Russian planes were escorted away from the Cornish coast by the RAF yesterday, though they never entered UK airspace. RAF Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon fighter aircraft were launched when Russian aircraft were identified flying close to UK airspace. An MoD spokesperson said: The Russian planes were escorted by the RAF until they were out of the UK area of interest. At no time did the Russian military aircraft cross into UK sovereign airspace. This puts defence secretary Michael Fallon’s comments on Russia posing a “real and present danger” into some new context, as he would have known about the incident when he made the remarks to journalists accompanying him on a trip to Sierra Leone. The Times reports that Fallon said: You have tanks and armour rolling across the Ukrainian border, and you have an Estonian border guard being captured and not yet still returned. When you have jets being flown up the English Channel, when you have submarines in the North Sea, it looks to me like it’s warming up. Updated at 1.23pm GMT 9.53am GMT09:53 In case you missed it yesterday, a poll from TNS gave Labour a seven-point lead over the Tories. Here’s a short write-up from PA – The new survey by TNS put Ed Miliband’s party on 35% (up two points compared to a similar poll a fortnight ago), against Conservatives on 28% (up one), Ukip on 18% (unchanged), Greens on 7% (down one) and Liberal Democrats trailing in fifth with 6% (unchanged). The majority of polls over recent weeks have put the two main parties virtually neck and neck, including a YouGov survey for The Sun, which today put Labour on 34%, narrowly ahead of Conservatives on 33%, with Ukip on 15%, Greens on 7% and Lib Dems on 6%. 9.45am GMT09:45 That last post got a little confused. It should have said “Nick Clegg says Fallon is right on the threat of Putin”, not “Nick Clegg says there is no evidence that Fallon is right on the threat of Putin”. Sorry about that. I’ve amended. 9.40am GMT09:40 Nick Clegg says Fallon is right on the threat of Putin, but that there’s no evidence than the Russian leader is planning the same thing in the Baltic states. He is referring to comments made by the defence secretary Michael Fallon that the Russian president Vladimir Putin could repeat the tactics used to destabilise Ukraine in Baltic members of the Nato alliance. Clegg says Fallon is right. But then says no evidence yet Putin is planning the same in the Baltic states but we must be "vigilant". And, finally, Clegg is asked the inevitable question about whether he always asks for a receipt from people doing cash-in-hand work. “Of course not”, he says. Though he admit that he doesn’t “really have a hedge to trim”. Clegg says that a constituent in Sheffield asked him to ask Ed Balls where he gets somebody to cut his hedge for £10. Updated at 1.24pm GMT 9.33am GMT09:33 Clegg is saying that he would like new laws on the use of drugs like cannabis where there is a legitimate medicinal use. But, he says, the “use of skunk has quite the reverse effect. It appers to have a link to psychosis.” He says that you shouldn’t treat all drugs in the same way. “If you’re anti-the harm that drugs can do, you should be pro reform.” 9.31am GMT09:31 Sam calling from Bexley says he joined the Liberal Democrats three months ago. He asks whether Clegg will return to his pledge to abolish tuition fees if he finds himself in a situation where he can. “Sam, I embrace you over the airwaves”, says Clegg, but he says there will be no return to the aim to abolish university tuition fees. “One bitten twice shy. I’m not going to make commitments in this area that I can’t deliver... It was the fairest deal I could get and, thankfully, it’s proving to be much fairer than many people predicted.” I wonder how Sam feels about that answer. 9.21am GMT09:21 Clegg says that his mother stayed at home to look after him, but says “It is not for me to say as a politician what people should do with their own families, but it’s for me to make those decisions easier”. He would like to see business rates looked at for child care providers. “We tried to free up some of the red tape about registering - how you register as a child minder – for example,” he says. I think he’s talking about this from january 2013 – Childminders and nurseries can look after more children. 9.16am GMT09:16 Nick Clegg is speaking on his weekly phone-in show on LBC. He is talking about the Conservative party’s tax break for married couples proposals. Clegg says it’s a waste of £800m. What happens when your partner has an affair and you get a divorce, he asks. He says the Liberal Democrats would spend the £800m on childcare for the under-twos. He is being asked why Wayne Rooney should get free childcare. “Poor Wayne Rooney, always being lambasted on this show”, says Clegg. Updated at 1.24pm GMT 9.11am GMT09:11 There are 77 days to go to the general election. Labour party leader Ed Miliband will be giving a speech in Manchester today – I will let you know when I know more. Meanwhile, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg will outline his party’s childcare plans, which he says would save people £2,540 per year. In a speech to the Pre-School Learning Alliance, he is expected to restate his commitment to eventually providing 20 hours a week of free childcare to all children of working parents aged between 9 months and two years. Clegg will also repeat his party’s plans to increase the Pupil Premium from £300 to £1,000 per child. He is expected to say. We are the only party with the clear commitment and plan, backed with the funding needed, to make it happen. We want a stronger economy and fairer society for Britain, where every child – whatever their circumstances or background – gets the best possible start in life. So, keep working with us, and I and my party will continue to do everything we can to build a more successful and more family friendly country fit for our children to grow up in. I’ll be filling in for Andrew today, covering all the breaking political news from Westminster, as well as bringing you the most interesting political comment and analysis from the web. I will post a summary at lunchtime and another in the afternoon. If you want to follow me on Twitter, I’m on @fperraudin. Updated at 1.24pm GMT |