A soupcon of sleaze in the soup: Leading article
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.Dinner with the PM - pounds 100,000; an evening with Ken Clarke or Gillian Shephard - around pounds 10,000. Presumably other Tory MPs can be rented out, too, if the price is right. On the face of it, there is nothing wrong with this kind of political fund-raising - until it starts to corrupt the relationship between the party and its donors.
What favours can businessmen expect for their cash? "Entertainment," says one contact dinner organiser. What he means is, that's how you can describe the night out in the company accounts; as a description of a couple of hours with the PM it seems, at best, debatable. "Political intelligence," says another. That means the chance for some Major name- dropping - to be able to boast to contacts of your proximity to power.
As it happens, there is a better description. The word is "sleaze".
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments