The Green Party has responded to the publication of figures by The Electoral Commission showing that PriceWaterhouseCooper gave £386,305 to the Labour Party last year. [1]
The donation by PWC, who have in past been accused of ‘promoting tax avoidance’, follows controversy over the Conservative Party also receiving funding from alleged ‘tax avoiders’. [2]
The Green Party, who recently crowdfunded over £70,000 as part of a campaign to stand candidates across the UK, received significantly less funding than the other major parties last year. [3]
Natalie Bennett, the leader of the Green Party, is calling for a radical change in the funding of political parties in Britain. She said:
“For too long now the issue of party funding has been kicked into the long grass by the establishment parties at Westminster.
It is abundantly clear that urgent reform is required to restore confidence in our scandal-ridden funding system.
To cut the rot of vested interests from our politics we should move towards a system of state funding for political parties.”
ENDS
[2] http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/feb/14/ken-clarke-tory-party-shun-wealthy-donors
[3] http://www.buzzfeed.com/sirajdatoo/party-donations-q4-2014