Clegg: fewer seats would allow extra funding for parties
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The number of MPs would be cut by 150 to pay for extra state funding of political parties under plans outlined by Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader.
Mr Clegg called for the Government's £200m advertising budget to be slashed as part of plans to "transform" politics. He said voters should be able to tick a box on their general election ballot paper to channel £3 to the party of their choice.
He said in a speech in Sheffield last night that bulk donations to parties should be capped at £25,000, insisting "the relationship between money and politics is rotten and it is hollowing out our whole political system". He called for action to shift political influence away from big-money donors to ordinary individuals.
Mr Clegg said the political system needed to be "reconstructed from the bottom to the top" and called for a programme of electoral reform to stop a few thousand voters deciding the outcome of general elections. He lambasted what he called the "elitist, establishment" view of the two main political parties.
He said: "Much of the debate in Westminster is complacent, based on the belief that people aren't voting because they're comfortable with the status quo... So instead of changing politics, the two establishment parties have pulled up the drawbridge and fallen back into the comfortable arms of their vested interests."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments