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We must have transparency in political funding – here’s why

Closing one loophole would stop the world’s oligarchs, billionaires and criminals from secretly buying influence on the British government

By Adam Ramsay
We must have transparency in political funding – here’s why
Since Johnson became PM, £2.6m has been smuggled to his party through a loophole in the law | Daniel Leal-Olivas/Reuters/Alamy
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British politics operates a bit like a protection racket. The rich and powerful pay a small portion of their money to Boris Johnson’s Tories, who in return ensure that said wealth and power are protected.

We saw this earlier this week, when it was revealed that 20% of Tory donors are property tycoons, who gave £60m to the party over the past decade. Meanwhile, the Conservatives work to rip up planning laws to ensure that said tycoons can design our future towns, cities and homes on their own terms.

We’ve seen it with the whole web of Tory donors who coincidentally keep getting lucrative COVID contracts.

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0