Not prosecuting because legislation may be ambiguous and people simply follow advice from party HQs suggests the laws on constituency spending are in urgent need of reform. From when Gladstone introduced legislation on the subject in 1883, until the Labour government brought in new laws in 2000, parties were limited in their use of superior financial resources to buy particular constituencies. The more recent legislation is clearly not working and has been counter-productive. The principle that millions of pounds should not matter more than millions of votes needs to be restored.
Chris Rennard
Lib Dem, House of Lords
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