I, too, would like to thank the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, for raising this. Having spent much of the earlier part of the Committee discussing non-party organisations and the limits on party expenditure, I think that it is interesting that we now move on to party revenue and how it is raised. Indeed, there is much in this debate in which I find myself in considerable sympathy, as there is a disconnect and there is a problem.
As my noble friends Lord Deben and Lord Marland and the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, reminded us, politics is a noble calling. It is not always seen like that, and we understand sometimes why it is not seen like that. But much of the work that is done in this House and in the other place, and in the various devolved Administrations and council chambers up and down the land, requires people to make a commitment and very often a sacrifice in order to make the system work. It does not work perfectly, we know that, and it will not always produce the policies that people like, but nevertheless, without the people prepared to do that work, the system would completely break down and democracy would be seriously imperilled. Democracy does not come cheap, and if people are going to have
proper choices at election times it is important that funding and resources are there for particular programmes to be put before voters, who should have an opportunity to respond.
6.30 pm
I acknowledge what the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, said in his opening remarks when he narrated the history of this and of those who want to see reform on this issue. Interestingly, in every party’s manifesto at the last general election there was a commitment to party funding reform. However, the fact that it tends to stall every time is frustrating. I pay tribute to the work of my noble friend Lord Tyler over many years on this issue, and to what he said about the health of a system that ought to rely more on a large number of small donations rather than, as my noble friend Lord Hodgson said, on the dangers created if the political system relies on too few donors.
The history of more recent discussions has been narrated. The amendments would allow individuals to make donations to a registered political party, and the individual would be able to obtain tax relief on the donation. There is a proposed new schedule that indicates the various conditions that would have to be fulfilled. I am not sure whether there is a printing error. Amendment 177 states that the tax relief must not exceed £16 in the year 2014-15, £16 in 2015-16 and £96 in 2016-17. The noble Lord says that it is meant to increase to £96. I wondered whether that figure was intended to continue at £16.