The proposed bail-out of political parties, to the tune of £3 a vote, or £100m over the duration of a parliament, isn’t going to happen, but not for the right reasons. Both Labour and the Tories oppose the proposed cap on big donations. Given they are both used to hundred grand bungs here and there, the cap of £10,000 on individuals, companies or unions is laughable in their eyes. Obviously Labour are also refusing to play pall with the union reform proposed in Sir Christopher Kelly’s report, published later today, that would see an opt in rather than an opt out to the millions of hard earned workers union subs that are poured into the Labour Party coffers every year. No surprises there…

Only the LibDems hit the nail on the head by pointing to the fact that at this time of cutting and shrimping, would the public really put up with this sort of money being poured into an already pretty unpopular section of society? Though before we give them too much credit, given their expected vote share at the next election, such rules would probably break them too. Party finance is a mess, but taxpayers cash is not the solution…