Our democracy is at risk from foreign interference – we need a plan to stop it

It was designed for a more innocent age - when we faced fewer threats from adversary states, the US had our back, and the ‘good chaps’ theory of politics involved more respect for rules and constitutional norms.

That world is now fading fast. Foreign state threats are growing, and efforts to influence UK politics are likely to increase between now and the next election. How we fund our politics represents a strategic vulnerability. Democracies around the world are under threat as foreign actors are eroding norms of corporate behaviour. New technologies create options to evade due diligence checks on transactions. And there is deepening uncertainty about the trajectory of some actors in the United States.

The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, which I Chair, has just published a report recommending urgent new safeguards to address foreign financial influence in UK politics. Unless we act decisively, we will leave ourselves dangerously exposed.

A major crisis of public trust is no longer unthinkable. What will happen if an adversary leaves deliberate traces of financial influence in tight election races, and the loser then cries foul? What will happen if a handful of UK political actors cease to respect constitutional norms and the public loses faith in a fair system? Once the rot sets in, it can be almost impossible to contain.

It’s important not to be alarmist. Most political funding doesn’t break the rules, of course, and most donors aren’t Russian proxies. Indeed, the Government deserves a degree of credit for many of the measures in its Representation of the People Bill, which begins Committee Stage in the House of Commons today.

But the long-term insidious influence of foreign money is a real problem. And we have to be alive to the risk of an acute crisis, too: the UK’s defences against a concerted effort to influence our political landscape have never been tested, but our inquiry found them completely inadequate.

Let’s start with oversight. Currently, responsibilities and specialist investigative capabilities are split across MI5, Counter Terrorism Police, the National Crime Agency, local police forces, the National Police Chiefs’ Council, and the Electoral Commission. That hardly inspires confidence about a joined-up approach. The police are also hampered by excessively high thresholds for taking action, while the regulator lacks basic powers to even ask if money used in a donation comes from a suspicious source.

We’re calling for a new Political Finance Enforcement Unit, new powers for the Electoral Commission, and tougher use of measures like Unexplained Wealth Orders for suspicious donations.

Other legislative changes are needed too: prison sentences for serious wrongdoing should be raised to three years, for example. Donors should have to declare if they receive more than £500 in connection with a donation, particularly if it’s from a foreign source. And crypto donations should be banned until we have confidence that adequate safeguards are in place.

There should be no wiggle room for super-rich donors without a significant presence in the UK to distort our politics - particularly if the ultimate source of the wealth funding these donations is beyond the scrutiny of UK regulators and police. We’re calling for the Government to require long-term overseas donors to have held sufficient UK-linked financial assets over the past 12 months to cover the cost of their donation.

The Government has a rare opportunity to act decisively, in the long-term national interest. I am introducing amendments to the Representation of the People Bill, and I hope the Government will set political sensitivities aside and embrace these more robust safeguards. The legislative timetable means there are only weeks to get this sorted. There’s no time to waste.

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Matt Western MP is the Chair of the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy.

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