Electoral Commission Did Not Write to MIC
Word reaches Guido that the Electoral Commission wrote to "certain" unincorporated associations last week, not including the Midlands Industrial Council. Lisa Klein, Director of Party and Election Finance, wrote the letter reminding them about original money sources being permissible donors.The MIC has long been the target of Labour complaints and has gone to some lengths to satisfy the Electoral Commission.
Lisa Klein was unavailable for comment...
9 comments:
What rubbish. Should we expect letters from the Police reminding us that burglary is against the law?
gaz:
No, but there are relentless "public information" notices reminding you your car will be crushed if you don't tax it and "we know every address that has a TV - no licence is a £1000 fine"
There's a criminal lurking inside every one of us, just waiting to come out. Obviously. Politicians are only human, you know.
Nice one just popped up on Guido's "Seen Elsewhere". Leninslime and Grasper on the rack again. I LOVE it.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23432709-details/Mayor+%27misled+public+over+cash+scandal%27/article.do
The weasel-faced fucker and his buddies need a comprehensive arse-reaming. Even Kate Hoey, Labour (yes, LABOUR) MP for Vauxhall, said: "The Mayor has been consistently misleading the public over the status of this review. It was not independent and it did not clear Mr Jasper or the LDA. People need to wake up about what is happening."
We Are All Guilty!
12.46
Don't get Guido started on that mea culpa business!
Peter Grimes
I confess to Almighty God,
to blessed Mary ever Virgin,
to blessed Michael the Archangel,
to blessed John the Baptist,
to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul,
to all the Saints and to you, brothers (and to you Father),
that I have sinned exceedingly,
in thought, word and deed:
through someone else's fault,
through someone else's fault,
through someone else's most grievous fault.
Therefore I beseech the blessed Mary,
ever Virgin,
blessed Michael the Archangel,
blessed John the Baptist,
the holy Apostles Peter and Paul,
all the Saints, and you, brothers (and you Father),
to pray to the Lord our God for me.
Amen.
Common sense would suggest a donor giving money to through an unincorporated association ought to be permissible but is that really the case?
When there is an intermediary the only requirement that the original source of the money be a permissible donor, that I can see, is section 54 (4). As this refers to a person donating on behalf of other persons.(ie agents such as Janet Kidd and Ray Ruddick donating on Abrahams' behalf.) Does that provide some wiggle room to argue unincorporated associations are not bound by the same requirements as agents, declared or othewise?
I hope not because it would be an enormous loophole.
"There's a criminal lurking inside every one of us"
Not unless you're under 16
I have to say that if the Electoral Commission is saying that unincorporated associations can only have members who themselves are permissible donors under the Act, then they appear to be adding words to section 54 that I can't see them being able to add (only Parliament can).
Section 54(2)(h) provides that an unincorporated association is a permissible donors if the association 'carries on business or activities wholly or mainly in the UK' and that it has a 'main office' here. The association is made up of two or more persons - note, not 'permissible donors'.
S.54(4) provides that where a principal donor (not defined - but which could be stretched to include an unincorporated association) causes a sum to be received by a registered party as a donation on behalf of others (at least 2 of them in this scenario), then 'each individual contribution by a person' on behalf of which the donation is made by the unincorporated association shall be treated as a separate donation (if it is more than £200).
But an unincorporated association can make donations on its own behalf - so this provision will not apply in every case, only where the association makes a donation for others.
Even if this is the case, it still doesn't seem to require permissible donors only as members of an unincorporated association.
Entertaining this statutory interpretation lark ... isn't it.
The result is that I believe that there is what would commonly be called a 'loophole'; but which I would call a failure of drafting!
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