The revelations about the real funding of
Peter Hain’s deputy leadership campaign have not only proved to be a source of
embarrassment to the Labour leadership but also a considerable source of anger
to many Labour and trade union members. Just what is it about New Labour and
wealthy donors? These people seem to have no problem about cultivating
donations from shadowy individuals who, we are told, want nothing in return yet
seem unwilling to be identified. So one person gives money through other
people’s bank accounts and others pay up via the conduit of a think tank which
has done no thinking.
Naturally the Tories and the rest have
picked up on this yet they are also treading carefully – the Conservative Party
has long enjoyed funding from various so-called Industrial Councils whose real
purpose is to hide the identity of bosses who, when it comes to paying workers’
wages, normally plead poverty. But they have all homed in yet again on the question
of funding for the Labour Party from the trade unions. Yet this is the only
source of political funding, apart from individual party memberships, to be
completely open and above board requiring a proper democratic vote from all
involved. The reality is that both
Labour and Tory leaderships are quite happy to receive money from big business
– the only problem they face is that people quite reasonably draw the
conclusion that these benefactors want something in return. The way in which
many of them have hidden their identities and in truth are people with little
natural sympathy for the Labour movement has only made people even more
suspicious.
We should reject any attempt to attack the
Labour– trade union link or replace it with some form of increased state
funding to cover the shortfall in donations from the rich and powerful, who
anyway will only fund Labour so long as it suits them. These donations come at
a price and the pro-big business agenda of New Labour over the years shows what
that price is. The articles alongside remind us that the Labour right wing have
had dodgy links with big business at every level for decades – nothing has
changed with the replacement of the Old Labour rightwing with its New Labour
version. The Labour Party should be funded by the organisations of the working
class and – more to the point – act in its interests rather than fawning to the
ambitions and aims of the wealthy few.
