Electoral law allows parties to adopt a fundraising strategy that focusses on raising funds in small amounts. A positive aspect of this is broad engagement of people in politics.<\/p>
Parliament set a threshold of £500, above which donations must be from permissible sources. This is to limit influence from outside the UK on our elections and democracy. Below the threshold, sums given to parties and campaigners are not considered to be donations under law, but recipients still need to satisfy themselves who is giving these sums. Multiple sums from a single source could aggregate to above £500 triggering the permissibility rules. This would exclude overseas donors not on the UK electoral register.<\/p>
Parties must have systems in place to comply with the rules, and the Commission provides advice to parties and campaigners about how to ensure that they do. If the current law is complied with, there is no reason why micro funding would result in impermissible donations from overseas donors. However, if it is considered that confidence in this needs to be improved by more transparency, the level of the £500 threshold could be lowered by Parliament.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4046", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Bridget Phillipson"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Houghton and Sunderland South"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Bridget Phillipson"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-06-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-06-24T09:58:46.777Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "36"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Political Parties: Finance"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission plans to review the ability of UK political parties and campaigns to receive micro-funding from overseas donors.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4264", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Stephen Doughty"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Cardiff South and Penarth"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Stephen Doughty"} ], "uin" : "911478"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1131612", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1131612/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The British Government condemns the violent attacks by Sudanese security forces against peaceful protestors in Sudan last week, which left many dead or injured. The Transitional Military Council (TMC) bears full responsibility. We have frequently called for the Sudanese authorities to ensure that peaceful protests are not met with violence and those responsible for the injuries and deaths of protestors are held to account.<\/p>
We have been consistent in public and in private that there must be justice and accountability for the crimes committed by members of the former regime. The UK strongly supports the mission of the International Criminal Court; due legal process must be followed. The UK, through the UN Security Council issued a statement on 13 June that called for the violence to stop and emphasised the importance of human rights, protection of civilians, accountability and justice.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4107", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dame Harriett Baldwin"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "West Worcestershire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Harriett Baldwin"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-06-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-06-17T15:34:20.433Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "16"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-12", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Sudan: Demonstrations"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans the Government has to (a) assist independent investigations and (b) support accountability for any violations potentially committed during alleged recent attacks on protesters in Sudan.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4264", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Stephen Doughty"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Cardiff South and Penarth"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Stephen Doughty"} ], "uin" : "263806"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1131349", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1131349/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
In November 2018, the Home Office published data on the number of deaths in the detention estate and absconds from the detention estate for the first time in its official Immigration Statistics<\/a>. This data will continue to be published on an annual basis each August.<\/p> The Home Office is unable to report on how many people have been deported who applied for asylum in the UK based either in part or wholly on their sexuality or gender identity and fear of persecution in their home countries in each year since 2010 by country of origin, as the Home Office do not publish data on asylum claims based on gender identity or expression. This information could only be obtained at disproportionate costs.<\/p> The Home Office remains committed to publishing information on the number of people claiming asylum on the basis of sexual orientation broken down by nationality.<\/p> On 29 November 2018, the Home Office published experimental statistics on Asylum claims made on the basis of sexual orientation, covering the period 2015 to 2017.<\/p> These experimental statistics provide data on asylum claims from 2015-2017, by year of application, initial decision, appeal receipt, or appeal decision<\/p> Data on the number of asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation can be found in tabs SOC_00 in the experimental statistics in the link provided below:<\/p>
At the same time, the Home Office published data on pregnant women in detention and further breakdowns of data on reports made by a medical practitioner under Rule 35 for the first time in the Immigration Enforcement Transparency<\/a> data. This data will continue to be published on a quarterly basis.<\/p>
In February 2019, the Home Office also announced its intention to undertake a more extensive review of the published enforcement data and has invited initial user feedback on the current and future publication of enforcement data. The review will include a formal consultation, which will be launched this summer and will be used to inform any future publication plans.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4048", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Caroline Nokes"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Romsey and Southampton North"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Caroline Nokes"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-06-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-06-17T10:27:07.863Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Migrants: Detainees"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his oral contribution of 24 July 2018 on detention, Official Report column 909, what extra data on immigration detention he plans to publish; and what the timetable is for the publication of that data.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4264", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Stephen Doughty"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Cardiff South and Penarth"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Stephen Doughty"}
], "uin" : "263156"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1131350", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1131350/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "