NI Political Donations To Become More Transparent

The Alliance Party says it has secured "victory" after the UK government tabled an amendment to the Northern Ireland Miscellaneous Provisions Bill that will aim to make the political donations process in Northern Ireland more transparent.

Under current regulations, large donations to Northern Ireland parties are declared to the Electoral Commission and are not published, as they are in Great Britain.

The amendment will mean that any donation of £7,500 or over from a single source to a political party from January 2014 will be subject to publication, provided it is permitted by the Secretary of State under security precautions.

The news follows a long campaign by Alliance MP Naomi Long.

She said: "This is the first step towards making the political donations process more transparent. I am extremely pleased that we have won the argument on this issue with the Government. It is a great victory for improving democracy and transparency in Northern Ireland.

"By passing this amendment, the Government is not undermining the Secretary of State's ability to decide when the security situation will permit this information to be made public, but it ensures that from January 2014, parties, donors and the public will know that those donations will eventually be published and scrutinised, which should help build confidence going forward. Permanent anonymity for donors will be at an end.

"The Electoral Commission have indicated their support for the amendment. They have carried out a series of surveys that showed that a significant proportion of the public are concerned about the lack of openness, so I am pleased that the Government have made a u-turn on this issue."

Ms Long added: "Alliance will continue to voluntarily publish our donations on our website and would encourage other parties to do the same."

(IT/CD)