Ed Milliband's Comedy Turn

Labour leader Ed Milliband must be running out of ideas. His latest suggestion, that the cap on party donations from individuals be lowered beneath what the Coalition suggested, is just hilarious

Not because it isn't a good idea in itself; it is. But it's comedy gold coming from  the leader of a party that happily accepts millions in donations from the membership of trade unions such as UNITE. Who then, of course, have a stranglehold on the party and its policies. Do us a favour, Ed. Do you think we've not noticed where your party gets its money from?



So how about this, Ed: all donations from any organisation whatsoever be capped? Or else consider state funding? Or frankly anything than allowing a public sector union to have such enormous control over such a major political party.

Of course, both the Conservative and Labour parties are out-of-touch dinosaurs, with membership shrinking and increasingly detached from their public. Witness George Galloway's success in West Bradford, ousting Labour. The two main parties are walking cadavers, sustained only by trade unions and dodgy billionaires. No wonder party chairmen start touting dinners with the PM for stuffed paper envelopes.

The British political system is a joke; everyone knows it's a joke. The parties are dominated by central control and ignore their grassroots members; they even (thanks to the Whips) ignore their own MPs. What chance have the public got of getting their voices heard?

Perhaps it's time to consider an American 'Primary' system for selecting candidates, state funding for all parties or stringent caps on donations and genuinely more independence for MPs. Just don't hold your breath.