Money impedes democracy | Prem Sikka | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk .
Prem Sikka on the need for reform to protect democracy:
Two political reforms are urgently needed. All registered political parties should be banned from directly receiving any political donations whether in cash or non-cash. All parliamentarians should be prohibited from taking consultancies, fees, jobs or paid posts outside parliament.
He's right when he says:
These proposals lead to howls of protests from political parties and the monied classes. Political parties say that they cannot run effective political campaigns without loads of money. Rich individuals claim that any ban infringes their right to support political parties. Individual parliamentarians claim that consultancy jobs give them a feel for real-world pressures
The reality is that people like the Big 4 simply try to buy out politics.
And Prem is right: urgent reform is needed, now.
Starting with proportional representation.
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If they wanted a feel for real world pressures perhaps they should swap the consultancy jobs for working as a porter in an NHS hospital or similar where they can see the real pressures that ordinary people are under. Of course these don’t come with large fees and potential political donations