This
meeting notes that since the last CLPD AGM, campaigning has been stepped up to
increase state funding of political parties and to cap voluntary donations to
parties. The electoral commission is currently undergoing a review of state
funding, due to report in spring/summer 2004. In September 2003, Leader of the
House Peter Hain declared that there would be a commitment to increased state
funding of political parties in Labour’s manifesto for the next general
election. The possibility of increasing state funding of political parties has
been contained in the current National Policy Forum consultation, with final
documents due to be voted on at Labour Party conference 2004.
This meeting believes that the donation cap, as proposed by the
Institute of Public Policy
Research (a cap for all individuals and bodies, including trade
unions of £5,000) and part of the Electoral Commission’s review, would
effectively end the link between the trade unions and the Labour Party. This
meeting believes that such moves would fundamentally weaken Labour by ending
the union's role as an integral component of the Party, thereby qualitatively
weakening the Party's link with the organised working class, narrowing the
Labour Party as a party of the broad labour movement and weakening the party in
its appeal and activities. Moves to end the union link and replace funding from
members and affiliates with increasing state funding would also reduce the
element of accountability of Labour's elected representatives to the party
membership and trade unions which is embodied in the current financial
structure.
This
meeting resolves that a priority for CLPD in the coming year will be to
continue campaigning against state funding. CLPD will continue to ally in the
broadest ways possible with trade unions and party members against such an
attack on the union link, the use of increasing state funding to replace
reduced funding by the membership and caps on union affiliation or donation.