The hypocrisy of the Tory attack on union funding of Labour is breathtaking when you consider the disparity in donations received by the main political parties during the first quarter of 2010. Electoral Commission figures show that Tory donations (£12,357,714) exceed Labour's figure (£4.072,432) by three to one and is more than twice the amount received by Labour and the Liberal Democrat's (£1,931,147) combined. http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/89947
The effects of this funding advantage is clear to anyone visiting a marginal constituency in recent weeks - they are all saturated with Tory advertising. The privileged elite represented by the Tory Party are used to buying their way through life (even New Labour had its price). It now seems democracy itself is no exception and I doubt Pickles and his crew will be satisfied until they are the only political party with the wherewithal to contest national elections.
Bob Oram
