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> It's funny how you could get access to the PM for just 50k GBP a year, even less if it's a Labour PM, or how you can get access to Rishi for 25k GBP a year. I
by barry-cotter 6y ago
> It's funny how you could get access to the PM for just 50k GBP a year, even less if it's a Labour PM, or how you can get access to Rishi for 25k GBP a year. It's also the reason why a lot of donors are Russian or Arab.
If you could actually buy anything but an ear for your complaints access would be a great deal more expensive. That’s not to say this petty corruption of the democratic process is right but it’s like how a Russian would burst out laughing at the idea of a politician with bricks of cash in the freezer. In Russia the Chief of Police lives in a palace he obviously can’t afford on his salary and it’s very public, not something he tries to hide. In the US or UK if you have a freezer full of cash the police are going to get you eventually.
Take no small or secret bribes.
- fakedang 6y agoI wasn't talking of bribes, but Leader's Group and Treasury Group. Donations to parties are more than enough to move mountains.
- barry-cotter 6y agoDoes move mountains mean something illegal or does it mean you can get a minister to get a civil servant to look at something? Because £50K a year will pay for a journalist/PR person who can also eventually get a civil servant to look at a thing. Access isn’t corruption, even if it is unfair.
- fakedang 6y agoIf you mean form a cohort with other like-minded donors to influence policy, yes. Does it mean tiny favors here and there from time to time? Yes. Does it mean you can expedite yourself into a citizenship? No.