by René Lavanchy
MPs and peers have criticised the Government after it emerged that a new rule restricting donations to political parties from wealthy “non-dom” tax exiles will not come into force until after the next election.
The amendment to the Political Parties and Elections Bill, which bans donations over £7,500 from people not resident in Britain for tax purposes, was accepted by Justice Secretary Jack Straw last month after a long-running battle with MPs and members of the House of Lords.
But although the bill has since become law, the Ministry of Justice says Mr Straw will not publish the “commencement order” to bring the tax exile rule into force until at least next summer, after the general election. The delay means that neither Tory billionaire Lord Ashcroft nor Labour’s non-dom donors, such as steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, will be prevented from giving large amounts of money before polling day. The Liberal Democrats also receive donations from non-doms.
Labour MP Fabian Hamilton, who backed the amendment, said: “It’s really important that we tightened up on the non-dom issue. I understand why they need to get this right but it needs to be in place before the next election.”
A Ministry of Justice source said the law made it much harder for parties to check donations, because until now the only requirement has been to check the electoral roll. “We genuinely think it is difficult. It’s a complicated business… what’s a political party supposed to do? There’ll have to be discussions with the Electoral Commission.”
