cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/43815995
- Former Permanent Secretary Philip Rycroft will assess finance and bribery rules and how to reduce risk of foreign interference
- Builds on new rules set out in Elections Strategy to guard against foreign political interference
Gill was jailed in November, after admitting to taking bribes for pro-Russian interviews and speeches when he was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP).
Announcing the review, Communities Secretary Steve Reed said the government must “learn the lessons” from the case so “this can never happen again”.
The review will be led by former senior civil servant Philip Rycroft and will report back in March.
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This is long overdue. The United Kingdom has the second worst campaign finance system in the Western World. I mean, David Cameron got caught selling access in exchange for donations:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/mar/26/david-cameron-private-dinners-tory-donors
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/mar/25/david-cameron-peter-cruddas-pressure
The same thing happened again with Boris Johnson:
https://www.ft.com/content/8c6041ff-a223-43e9-9e45-53c3f7cf47f7
After scandals like this, many Western Democracies changed their campaign finance laws. Britain never did. A single guy just gave £9 million to Reform:
https://theconversation.com/reforms-9m-gift-and-the-rise-of-the-political-mega-donor-271428
What makes the UK particularly vulnerable to foreign powers is that:
Donations from non-UK citizens are legal.
MPs are allowed to have second jobs.