Today’s ‘cash for access’ revelations (£) are, taken individually, less perturbing than last week’s. What we learn is that David Cameron (and other ministers) met with donors on occasions (and at locations) other than those already disclosed, and that Peter Cruddas was more involved with this process than Downing St would have us believe. There is very little added to the most serious allegation from a week ago: that big money donors could gain special insights in the policy process, or even involve themselves in it.
But, taken as a whole, today’s revelations are extremely tricky for Cameron. Not only do they keep the story going, but they also highlight how absences of transparency will often be probed and exposed. Because Downing Street last week revealed only which ‘signficant donors’ had dined at No.10 and in Chequers — and not all the times that Cameron met donors at parties, fundraising events and the like — it has enabled the Sunday Times to run with a very stark frontpage headline: ‘Tory cover-up over “cash for Cameron”’.
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