I wrote previously on the official cost of party politics to our nation through the official funding that is provided from the so called public purse. The annual amount of £7M as divulged on 18th December by Lord Marland is not one that is truly accountable to any of us, as the decisions taken regarding this sum are made by the very political parties that depend on this funding for their existence. However this sum is only part of the cost of running a political system that is controlled by 1% of the population. As Mondays Independent reported, the majority of the large donors of funds towards our political parties are handsomely rewarded through their elevation to the House of Lords. The Sunday Telegraph this week reported that the cost of running the Lords has increased by some 17% since the current Government took over the reigns of power, this is in large part due to the ‘need’ to rebalance the Lords with coalition members (and in some case donors) so that the Government has some hope of getting their Bills through the Chamber. Whilst there is no simple correlation between the donors to our major parties, their elevation to the Lords, and the cost of the Lords (some £24M each year), the link is as clear as it is likely to become without some form of Independent Review.

This morning we have discovered who the winners are in the New Years honours system, it is clear that some of the New Lords and Ladies will be people who have been generous in their support  towards our political parties, just as some of those with less significant honours are workers for the various political parties. Sadly these honours risk making the whole system appear politicised, even though a great many of the honours go to people with no party affiliation and who have served within their communities for many years. It is a forlorn hope with the closed nature of our current political processes, but I believe that our nation and its democracy will not be strengthened unless a full review is permitted. If our Political leaders were willing to make themselves accountable to you and I in terms of the funding that their parties receive, along with a number of other issues that they currently decide, supposedly on our behalf, perhaps we could in time begin to place our trust in their judgement on other matters?