Both the Wasting Mule and BBC have given prominence to the news that Plaid Cymru has been fined £29,000 by the Electoral Commission for finance reporting failures.
According to the Electoral Commission, the party submitted nine inaccurate reports over a two-year period, omitting what it described as 36 cash donations worth more than £497,000.
The commission said Plaid then reported the donations in May 2018. Investigations "pointed to a lack of effective internal processes, which led to a failure to understand the reporting requirements", it said
So Mr Grimes has a past whenn it comes accusations "Dark Money" and it appears that Andrew R T Davies Aand the BBC and Mule) maybe should be looking at claims that.Tories who won Welsh target seats received ‘dark money’ donations
Nation Cymru report that.
The watchdog imposed the levy after the Welsh party submitted "nine inaccurate reports" regarding donations.
A spokesman for the Electoral Commission said: "The investigation found that the party submitted nine inaccurate reports over a two-year period, omitting a total of 36 cash donations worth more than £497,000. The party reported the donations in May 2018.Whilst there is no excuse for Plaid Failings to declare, it is clear that these donations were not from individuals and there were no attempt to hide them as A spokesman for the party said it corrected the oversight when it was notified and "is now in compliance".The fine must be paid within a fortnight.Opposition parties that win MPs at Westminster are entitled to so-called "Short money", which they can use to help them with their costs.The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 states that "any payment out of public funds received by a registered party shall be regarded as a donation received by the party from a permissible donor".
"The commission's investigations pointed to a lack of effective internal processes, which led to a failure to understand the reporting requirements."
The commission's director of regulation Louise Edwards said: "The total number and value of donations omitted from Plaid Cymru's quarterly reports is significant and reveals a substantial degree of non-compliance.
"Plaid Cymru is a well-established party and it should be able to meet its reporting obligations.
"It is vital that voters can see full and accurate financial records that show where a political party's money comes from.laid had failed to declare cash from the
House of Commons authorities, and some cash from the Electoral Commission.
According to the Electoral Commission, the party submitted nine inaccurate reports over a two-year period, omitting what it described as 36 cash donations worth more than £497,000.
The commission said Plaid then reported the donations in May 2018. Investigations "pointed to a lack of effective internal processes, which led to a failure to understand the reporting requirements", it said
It lead to the Tory AM Andrew Davies to retweet this from Darren Grimes
I'm looking forward to
's investigation into the Remain-backing, left-wing Plaid Cymru. I'm sure there'll be a 'dark money' splash on the front cover of The Guardian tomorrow! Right?
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Plaid Cymru has been fined £29k by the Electoral Commission for failing to accurately report donations. EC investigation found the party filed 9 inaccurate reports over 2 yrs omitting a total of 36 cash donations worth more than £497k. The party reported the donations in May 2018
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While at university,Grimes founded the pro-Brexit group BeLeave aimed at younger voters during the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum campaign. In 2018, Grimes was fined £20,000 by the Electoral Commission after they determined that there was evidence that BeLeave had spent more than £675,000 with the Canadian political consultancy firm AggregateIQ in coordination with the official Brexit campaign organisation Vote Leave to distribute targeted social media advertisements.[10] This was alleged to have broken electoral spending rules, and that Grimes and Vote Leave official David Halsall had made false declarations relating to the spending.[11] Grimes and Halsall were also referred to the police by the Commission.[12] Both Vote Leave and Grimes initiated appeals against the sanctions. Vote Leave withdrew their appeal and paid their fine of £61,000 in March 2019. In July, Grimes won an appeal against his fine. He had raised over £90,000 through crowdfunding for his legal defence. The court ordered the Electoral Commission to pay for his legal costs.] In the same year, he was listed in talk radio station LBC's list of top 100 most influential conservatives of 2019.[
So Mr Grimes has a past whenn it comes accusations "Dark Money" and it appears that Andrew R T Davies Aand the BBC and Mule) maybe should be looking at claims that.Tories who won Welsh target seats received ‘dark money’ donations
Nation Cymru report that.
More than half of donations received by new Conservative MPs in Wales came from secretive fundraising clubs based in the south-east of England.Six of the nine new Conservative MPs elected in Wales received a combined 15 donations totalling £53,750, according to the new register of MPs’ interests.The source for 55% of that sum (£29,750) was a network of clubs and funds used by the Conservative party to allow rich supporters to donate money anonymously which is usually targeted at candidates in marginal seats.The funding is legal but transparency campaigners have called for a change to the rules so that the origins of political donations are revealed.James Davies, who won the Vale of Clwyd from Labour’s Chris Ruane, received the highest number of such donations of any of the new Welsh Conservative MPs.He received £2,500 from the political committee of the Carlton Club, a further £2,500 from the Association of Conservative Clubs and two donations worth £3,500 from the United and Cecil Club.Both the Carlton Club and United and Cecil Clubs are unincorporated associations which don’t have to register gifts made to them with the Electoral Commission under the value of £7,500.Virginie Crosbie (Ynys Môn) and Sarah Atherton (Wrexham) both won their seats and received a £3,500 contribution each from the United and Cecil Club, described by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism as “an organisation registered at a stables in the Home Counties” which “is playing an increasingly crucial role in funding election bids in the most tightly contested constituencies”.They were among 36 successful candidates who shared a pot of £113,500 in anonymous donations from the United and Cecil club at this election, according to a new investigation by Open Democracy.
‘Transparency’Craig Williams, who took the Montgomeryshire seat of retiring Glyn Jones, also received £5,000 from the Association of Conservative Clubs, which is a limited company that represents unincorporated associations across Britain.Fay Jones, who won Brecon and Radnorshire, received £5,000 from the Stalbury Trustees via a Mayfair based law firm.She was one of 26 successful candidates to receive £116,000 from the Stalbury Trustees, according to Open Democracy.Companies House records show that Stalbury Trustees has four directors: the Seventh Marquis of Salisbury, the Seventh Earl of Verulam, Lord Charles Cecil and stockbroker David Barnett.Rob Roberts, who won Delyn from Labour, received £4,250 from the Tandridge Club based in East Surrey. The club also donated to the successful Tory candidates in Colne Valley and Ashfield.Simon Barnes (Clwyd South), Robin Millar (Aberconwy) and Jamie Wallis (Bridgend) were the three successful Conservative candidates in Wales who haven’t registered donations from such sources.Steve Goodrich, head of research at Transparency International, told Open Democracy: “Unincorporated associations make it far too easy for those shy of publicity to withhold their names from public view.“Whilst this may be within the current rules, it also shows the rules aren’t achieving their aim: providing transparency and probity over the origins of money in politics.
If the Electoral Commission really wanted to do their job it , be better to concentrate in such allegations rather than an easy target like the errors Plaid about donations that the commission already knew about and forensically examine the whole issue of Dark Money.
I may be widely of the mark , but if every MP who was elected last September had their electoral expenses forensically examines , then few would escape clean.
That's the problem Parties particularly the Tories know full well that the commission or any agency do not have the manpower, resources or powers to and forensically examine the whole issue of Dark Money to ensure we have an equal playing field .
Our democracy can be bought by those with those with most money and by those from outside the UK.
I may be widely of the mark , but if every MP who was elected last September had their electoral expenses forensically examines , then few would escape clean.
That's the problem Parties particularly the Tories know full well that the commission or any agency do not have the manpower, resources or powers to and forensically examine the whole issue of Dark Money to ensure we have an equal playing field .
Our democracy can be bought by those with those with most money and by those from outside the UK.
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