{ "format" : "linked-data-api", "version" : "0.2", "result" : {"_about" : "http://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?max-ddpModified.=2019-06-25T17%3A05%3A23.630Z&min-ddpCreated=2019-06-18T09%3A54%3A08.043Z&min-ddpModified.=2016-03-09T17%3A24%3A08.020Z&hansardHeading=Political+Parties%3A+Finance", "definition" : "http://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/meta/answeredquestions.text?max-ddpModified.=2019-06-25T17%3A05%3A23.630Z&min-ddpCreated=2019-06-18T09%3A54%3A08.043Z&min-ddpModified.=2016-03-09T17%3A24%3A08.020Z&hansardHeading=Political+Parties%3A+Finance", "extendedMetadataVersion" : "http://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?max-ddpModified.=2019-06-25T17%3A05%3A23.630Z&min-ddpCreated=2019-06-18T09%3A54%3A08.043Z&_metadata=all&min-ddpModified.=2016-03-09T17%3A24%3A08.020Z&hansardHeading=Political+Parties%3A+Finance", "first" : "http://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?_page=0&max-ddpModified.=2019-06-25T17%3A05%3A23.630Z&min-ddpCreated=2019-06-18T09%3A54%3A08.043Z&min-ddpModified.=2016-03-09T17%3A24%3A08.020Z&hansardHeading=Political+Parties%3A+Finance", "hasPart" : "http://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?max-ddpModified.=2019-06-25T17%3A05%3A23.630Z&min-ddpCreated=2019-06-18T09%3A54%3A08.043Z&min-ddpModified.=2016-03-09T17%3A24%3A08.020Z&hansardHeading=Political+Parties%3A+Finance", "isPartOf" : "http://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?max-ddpModified.=2019-06-25T17%3A05%3A23.630Z&min-ddpCreated=2019-06-18T09%3A54%3A08.043Z&min-ddpModified.=2016-03-09T17%3A24%3A08.020Z&hansardHeading=Political+Parties%3A+Finance", "items" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1134466", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Cabinet Office"}
      ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1134466/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "<p>The Coalition Government took the decision not to implement the 2009 legislation, as it was not deemed to be workable, and the Conservative Government continues to hold this view.<\/p><p>During the passage of the 2009 Act, the Electoral Commission raised concerns about the legislation (further to Official Report, 15 October 2009, Col. 998W), and in 2013, the Electoral Commission also flagged issues about the tax status declaration requirements. The Labour Government conceded that the provisions could not be commenced at that time \u201cdue to their complex nature\u201d (as outlined in the answer of Official Report, 10 March 2010, Col. 5MC).<\/p><p> <\/p><p>An individual\u2019s tax status is subject to confidentiality between them and HMRC. It may therefore be difficult or impossible for the political party and the Electoral Commission to accurately determine whether a donor meets the permissibility test set out section 10 in the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009.<\/p><p>The Government also has a principled objection to the measures:<\/p><p> <\/p><ul><li>The UK has a robust legal framework in place that bans foreign donations. There is a long-standing principle \u2013 as originally recommended by the Committee on Standards in Public Life in 1998 \u2013 that permissible donors are those on the UK electoral register, and this includes UK citizens who are registered overseas electors. Companies wishing to make donations must be UK-registered and carrying on business in the UK.<\/li><\/ul><p> <\/p><ul><li>If a British citizen is able to vote in an election for a political party, they should also be able to donate to that political party, subject to the requirements for transparency on donations. Supporting a political party is part of the democratic process, and is an expression of freedom of association.<\/li><\/ul><p> <\/p><ul><li>Since the adoption of universal suffrage, taxation has never been the basis of enfranchisement in the UK. Those who do not pay income tax, such as those earning less than the tax-free personal allowance, rightly remain entitled to vote. Similarly, full-time students are legally exempt from paying council tax, but still have the right to vote in local elections.<\/li><\/ul><p> <\/p><p>Notwithstanding, as I stated in my previous answer, the Government has announced it will consult on strengthening the current provisions which protect UK politics from foreign influence. The consultation may consider recommendations on tackling loopholes in relation to foreign spending in elections and donations from shell companies which are not properly operating in the UK.<\/p><p> <\/p><p>More broadly, since 2010, the Government has taken action to sanction and deter those involved in offshore evasion, including creating a new criminal offence for serious offshore evasion, and introducing penalties for those who deliberately help others to evade tax offshore. The Government has introduced over 100 new measures to tackle tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance.<\/p>"}
        , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4451", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Kevin Foster"}
        }
        , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Torbay"}
        , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Kevin Foster"}
        , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-07-01", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
        , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
        , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-07-01T09:32:22.537Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
        ]}
      , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "53"}
      , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"}
      , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"}
      , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
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      , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
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      ], "questionText" : "To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2019 to Question 266672 on Political Parties: Finance, for what reason the Government considers Section 10 of the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009 to be unworkable.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
      , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/410", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Jon Trickett"}
      }
      , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hemsworth"}
      , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Jon Trickett"}
      ], "uin" : "268969"}
    , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1133264", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Cabinet Office"}
      ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1133264/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "<p>Successive Governments have considered section 10 of the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009 to be unworkable<\/p><p>There is already a robust legal framework in place to ensure only individuals that are registered on the electoral register and organisations that carry out business in the UK can<br>make donations to political organisations in the UK<\/p><p>In May this year, the Government announced it will consult on strengthening the current provisions which protect UK politics from foreign influence. The consultation may consider<br>recommendations on foreign spending in elections and donations from shell companies.<\/p>"}
        , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4451", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Kevin Foster"}
        }
        , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Torbay"}
        , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Kevin Foster"}
        , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-06-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
        , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
        , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-06-24T16:25:16.157Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
        ]}
      , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "53"}
      , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"}
      , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"}
      , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-19", "_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 Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the Government has not issued a commencement order for Section 10 of the Political Parties Act 2009, in relation to non-resident donors.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
      , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/410", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Jon Trickett"}
      }
      , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hemsworth"}
      , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Jon Trickett"}
      ], "uin" : "266672"}
    , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1132688", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"}
      ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1132688/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "<p>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><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><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"}
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