Clause 13
Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill
11:15 am
I totally agree with the hon. Lady—in a normal society. The difficulty is that we still have a somewhat abnormal society. While others might not be, I am fully conscious that many people who would want to support me, or have done so, or have at times supported my party, are subject to threats and intimidation from sources of a paramilitary nature. I do not wish to subject people to that.
My political party needs money. It is an open and honest party that survives on the votes of its supporters and on small donations from a series of supporters. There is nothing underhand or dishonest about where we obtain our funds. My point is that, in the short term, to declare our sources openly is to put those responsible at high risk. I make that point genuinely and sincerely, and if people wish to disagree I regret that. However, I am not making it for any underhand reason. People are threatened and intimidated, and I emphasise that this has happened to my party’s donors. For obvious reasons, I do not wish to go into detail and expose them further.
It would have been reasonable to continue to exempt Northern Ireland political parties from reporting requirements beyond 31 October 2007. However, we understand that Parliament wants greater transparency. For that reason, we accept that donations above £5,000 should be reported to the Electoral Commission, although we are adamant that they should not be made public.
However, we have concerns even at this stage, as we know that from time to time paramilitaries have tried to infiltrate public bodies. For example, in October 2004, a member of the Real IRA, one of the dissident groups, was accessing personal information from the database of the Royal Victoria hospital. That is a concern. From that perspective, we would be keen to have information lodged in London, where it might be safer, rather than in an office in Belfast.
In the light of the intervention by the hon. Member for North Down, I emphasise that the SDLP is not in any way in favour of unregulated political donations. We accept the ban on foreign donations, as long as Irish citizens and Irish companies can donate. Further, and critically, we advocate the simplest and most effective of all regulation, a ban to ban all—