State funding life support machine proposed for declining political parties

As front line public services face drastic austerity cuts, the dithering Kelly Commission is proposing to introduce state funding for political parties - an option pushed hardest by the Liberal Democrat's which is otherwise hardly viable as a nationwide political force: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/oct/28/political-parties-more-state-funding For background information on UK party membership read: http://unisonactive.blogspot.com/2010/07/inexorable-decline-in-membership-of-uk.html