James Murdoch is in a long line of dinner guests who have courted Prime Minister, David Cameron, to obtain political access for commercial gain. It was recently reported that 15 donors enjoyed secret dinners and lunches at Downing Street and Chequers parting with approximately £25million in cash. These donors would have had access to information and also the ability to influence policies that would ultimately effect you and I.
The term bribery comes to mind. But to what extent and what do we really expect…..
Well firstly, there is protocol for receiving donations and all those who have gone through the proper channels have nothing to fear. Secondly, David Cameron’s friends are from wealthy and influential backgrounds. Is he not to have friends over for dinner? Of course, it is normal to assume that business may crop up on the agenda. Don’t we all talk about work, successes and failures with our friends? I would hope that the PM would be scrupulous in the information he divulges. His guests, however, can part with whatever information they choose to. It would be unnatural to think that we are not influenced by our surroundings and base our judgments on these.
So as the list unfolds of who David Cameron is having dinners with, I think it is safe to say that transparency is of great importance. Then even if his meetings are influencing policy, at least no one can say that he was trying to hide something.
As a business owner, I would welcome the opportunity to get in front of ministers to discuss the needs of our industry and enable policy to support the industry. Unfortunately I cannot afford it!
Bunty
