45 million reasons why donations to political parties are dodgy as hell

If I had a spare £1 million swashing about in my bank account or down the back of the sofa, I am pretty sure I could come up with, give or take, a million different and better ways of spending it other than donating it to a political party. A children’s cancer charity, for instance. Or, if I’m feeling a little less altruistic, a nice yacht maybe.

Clearly, Richard Desmond, the owner of Express newspapers, couldn’t think of any better way to spend his hard-earned dosh so he’s decided to give his spare £1.3million to Ukip to help fund their general election campaign. This comes on top of an earlier £300,000 donation. Cue gasps of outrage and raised eyebrows at why a newspaper and magazine tycoon should want to hand over his cash to, of all people, Nigel Farage.

Desmond’s donation was wrong. But not because it was from him or to this particular party, but because ALL donations of this size to ANY political party are wrong.