Money and politics are necessary but uncomfortable bedfellows.

In the US, Barak Obama has got into a stew this week for his decision to forego federal funds – which allows him to spend as much as he wants on his campaign.  This runs directly contrary to a previous promise to stick to the limits (which only apply if he takes federal funding) – and leaves him open to the allegation that his commitment to the “new politics” only applies when its convenient.  McCain, as one of the leading proponents of limiting the extraordinary sums spent on campaigns in the US, has got some good ammunition.

Here in the UK, politicians must wish they had Obama’s problem.  The Labour Party, in particular, can only dream of a situation where too much money rather than too little is the problem.

The UK problem is much more severe than Obama’s.  Here, politicians are caught between a rock and a hard place.  On one side the public chafes at giving them a slice of their taxes in order to run campaigns which many regard as wasteful.  On the other, they protest when big donors provide the funding that the parties need and are quick to claim that corruption is rife even where it probably is not.  

Indeed, those protests may grow stronger if stories that trade union leaders have drawn up a series of demands in return for saving the Labour Party from bankruptcy are true.  

Tony Blair knew how unsatisfactory it was that the Labour Party should depend so heavily on a cabal of trade union leaders with a strong political agenda.  But the Party’s funding situation is now so desperate that they may be thrown back on their mercies.  If that dependency is seen to result in damaging concessions, public anger at the financial relationship between the government and the unions may boil over.  

We should pay heed to the criticism levelled at Barak Obama.  His critics are right that the “new politics” does not feel compatible with high spending, and with dependence on private funds – whether from trade unions or from big donors.  

There is resistance to public funding of political parties, but, in truth, this bridge was crossed long ago.  The Conservatives benefitted to the tune of £1.5 million in the first quarter of this year.  Yes – there will be complaints about the spending of taxpayers’ money on campaigns, but those complaints will be a useful discipline on wasteful spending.  It is the awareness of the need for such restraint that, in relation to MPs’ salaries, has already led the front benches to forego part of the proposed increase this year.

As Jack Straw’s proposals for party funding continue to founder, we should take the opportunity to propose a full clean out of the stables, and commit to a new way that takes private money out of politics.