David Cameron’s former policy guru today urged Theresa May to back a low cap on donations to clean up Britain’s political system.
Steve Hilton, who was one of Mr Cameron’s closest aides at No 10, called for a complete shake-up of the political funding system following the storm over the former Prime Minister’s resignation honours list.
According to UK Business Insider, He stressed that the bigger problem was not the gongs being recommended by Mr Cameron to dozens of “cronies”, many of whom worked in Downing Street. But he believes “corruption comes when the honours system starts to clash with democratic principles” — and so he backs a fully elected House of Lords.
A more “serious type of very British corruption”, he argued, is that honours and even peerages can be “purchased” through political donations. “When money buys influence, trust in politics is eroded,” he told The Times.
He emphasised that he did not blame the donors but called for big money to be driven out of the political system.
“We can encourage that by placing a really low cap on political donations so parties are forced to raise their money in more democratic ways,” he told BBC radio. “We now have technology that makes it much easier.”
The Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats have made repeated attempts to reform the political funding system but have floundered on several issues including the level of the cap.
The Tories have traditionally relied more on big donations from private individuals and companies, and Labour from the unions.
Mr Cameron’s nominations for honours, which include a long list of rewards for personal aides, political donors and senior figures on the losing Remain campaign in the European Union referendum, have sparked widespread accusations of cronyism.
Major Tory donor Ian Taylor, the Vitol oil boss who is said to have been nominated for a knighthood, asked for his name not to go forward.
Other Tory donors are thought to have been recommended for peerages including former Tory treasurer and City boss Michael Spencer, whose nomination is said to have been blocked previously.
Labour deputy leader Tom Watson has called for the system to be boycotted, though his party leader Jeremy Corbyn has stopped short of such a demand, instead urging a review.
Several prominent people, including former Liberty boss Shami Chakrabarti, are believed to be in line to become Labour peers.
Mr Hilton, who was Mr Cameron’s director of strategy, said the row should be used to reform the “whole rotten system”. He said: “David Cameron’s resignation honours list is a symptom of a wider problem: our corrupt and decaying democracy. So let’s not just be outraged about it — let’s use this moment to bring about radical reform of the whole rotten system.
“The corruption comes when the honours system starts to clash with democratic principles.”