Quote Originally Posted by lyonhibs View Post
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This is all pish in the wind - Prime Ministers/Cabinet minsters of all political colours have long had cosy dinners with rich mates who also happen to give their parties massive swedges of cash.

It's the whole system of lobbying, and the amounts involved, that we need changed, not some massively expensive police investigation that will exclusively reveal that a politican had some rich, influential friends over for a chinwag.

We can hardly stop anyone in the country having a dinner party with whomever they want, it's whether they have paid money specifically to get that access, and whether policies of this country are actually influenced by what they talk about over champagne and caviar, or whether the PM just goes ""Hmmm, yes interesting Barnaby" and pays no real attention.

Call Me Dave says everyone he had over was already close mates he'd known for years - I have no idea whether to believe him or not, but this "Nudge nudge, see you at Chequers old boy" culture that pervades British politics needs to end, for many, many more reasons than this.

Is it not the simple fact that if you contribute signficant sums to any organisation you would normally receive some sort of influence or access in return....I'm not sure why we consider political parties any different, nor indeed what would be so terribly wrong with the leader of any party having dinner with his largest donors.