Election expenses row erupts

LABOUR was accused yesterday of trying to limit the spending of rival parties in marginal seats as it brought forward proposals to reform the funding of Westminster parliamentary elections.

In what had the makings of a major row, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats made clear their determination to fight the passage of the Political Parties and Elections Bill.

This has been introduced to end the ability of wealthy donors, such as Tory peer Lord Ashcroft, to bankroll campaigns in marginal seats and to increase the public's knowledge of who is making the donations. In the run-up to the 2005 general election Lord Ashcroft provided Tory candidates in 36 constituencies with between 20,000 and 40,000 each in campaign funds.

But under the new rules, put forward by Labour's Justice Secretary Jack Straw, expenditure would be limited to about 11,000 per constituency.

The "trigger" for measuring the expenditure would be when campaigning starts, rather than from when an election is called. The Tories say this would penalise candidates who had been active well in advance of polling day.

By contrast, sitting MPs of all parties would still be able to make use of the 40,000 a year "communications allowance" to promote their parliamentary activities in their constituency.

Many believe this publicly funded allowance has the effect of making it easier for an MP to hang on to his or her seat.

The Tories are also angry that the bill, which is expected to come into force next spring, does not limit union donations to Labour. Lib Dem MP David Heath said it was a "pathetic little mouse of a bill" that did not go far enough.