While I recognise the importance of ensuring that our democracy is not subject to subversive influences, I do not support an arbitrary cap on donations.
There is a long-standing principle that if you can vote for a political party, then you can donate to a political party. This was supported by the Committee on Standards in Public Life in 1998, which judged that 'permissible donors' are voters registered on the United Kingdom's Electoral Register. This is an important expression of freedom of association, and an arbitrary cap risks undermining this.
Without donors, the burden of funding political party campaigning would inevitably fall to the British taxpayer. State funding of political party campaigning is wrong, and no party should expect the British people to see their taxes go towards bankrolling political campaigns.
That is why those who support an arbitrary donations cap must explain how they would ensure that this would be avoided, without undermining the ability of all parties to make public their plans for Britain and their views on pressing political issues.
I do, however, welcome the strong transparency and compliance rules, which are backed by the law, that all parties must adhere to at all times. I firmly support the rule that any donations must only be from a permissible source, and that political parties must be responsible for checking the source of loans and donations over the value of £500. The law is clear that political parties must return donations and loans if they are uncertain of the identity of the donor or lender.