New life for State funding

Sir Christopher Kelly's Committee for Standards in Public Life has published its (mercifully brief) questions and issues paper on Party Political Finance with a rapid turnaround date of 29th October. I urge all of you with a position on State funding to respond.

So far, Conservatives are distinctly lukewarm on State funding. However, Andrew Rawnsley in the Observer today reports a coalition cabinet minister as predicting '25-5' after the effects of the October Spending Review are understood - the Tories poll rating falling to 25% and the LibDems collapsing to just 5%. If this happens, and the fall is reflected in a choking-off of donations and memberships, the Tories may well reconsider their position. Of course, one can't imagine Labour picking up the lost support - not if the coalition do their job right in correctly blaming Labour's fiscal malfeasance for the cuts - and the Comrades could well be stuck on 25% too, leaving the 'None of the Above' Party with a 45% share of popular support.