School politics class: Berenberg made largest unlawful UK political donation with £300,000 for Tories
This article picked by a teacher with suggested questions is part of the Financial Times free schools access programme. Details/registration here.
Specification:
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AQA Component 1, Section 3.1.2.3: Political Parties: issues and debates around party funding
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Edexcel Component 1, Section 2.1: Political Parties: How parties are currently funded, debates on the consequences of the current funding system
Background: what you need to know
UK party funding has been in the news recently, with this story about a donation by German bank Berenberg to the Conservatives, and one of £9mn to Reform UK from aviation entrepreneur, Christopher Harborne. The Berenberg donation fell foul of the rules governing donations and had to be returned, as it came from a company registered outside the UK.
The article doesn’t explicitly reference the alternative of taxpayer funding, but these two examples could be used in an essay on this area.
Read the article below and then answer the questions:
Berenberg made largest unlawful UK political donation with £300,000 for Tories
On funding of Reform UK see this article:
Reform UK receives record £9mn donation from Christopher Harborne
Question in the style of AQA Politics Paper 1
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Explain and analyse three ways in which the funding of UK political parties has caused controversy in recent years. (9 marks)
Question in the style of Edexcel Politics Paper 1
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Evaluate the view that UK political parties should be state funded. You must consider this view and the alternative to this view in a balanced way. (30 marks)
TIP: State funding of political parties is sometimes recommended as a way of avoiding the controversies surrounding private donations. Taxpayer funding would counter the accusation that unaccountable wealthy donors may exercise covert influence over party policies. On the other hand, it would be hard to work out a completely fair way of allocating money to individual parties. In addition, at a time when the cost of living is high, taxpayers might not want to give financial support to politicians — especially to parties they do not support.
Graham Goodlad, Portsmouth High School
