Peter Geoghegan is right to be pessimistic about the likelihood of rapid change away from dodgy donations for political parties (British political giving is increasingly dominated by the rich – it’s a system ripe for abuse, 10 July). He states that “our electoral law is outdated, with loopholes so large they could be seen from space”. Therein lies the real problem: our whole system was designed before anyone could look down from above.
Political parties and institutions were mostly established in previous centuries. Limited reforms have been corrupted. Now, most in power adopt protectionist approaches to suit themselves rather than new needs. Why, for example, should we even still accept that it is right to pay an individual subscription to be a member of any party seeking to legislate, then argue over who is expelled if views do not absolutely coincide with current leaderships?
