I assume that the hon. Gentleman is referring to the research report on public attitudes to party funding, which was published last year. The Speaker’s Committee has made no assessment of that report.
Sir Hayden Phillips has recommended that some £25 million should be used for funding political parties. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that perhaps the political parties should get together and try to sell the fact that we are trustworthy and above board before we start thinking of spending taxpayers’ money on funding?
The central point of Sir Hayden Phillips’ report was that the decision should be in the hands of the parties and they should discuss a solution. He laid down four principles: that nothing should be done until everything is agreed; that a fair system need not initially be a uniform system; that a new settlement should be reached by consensus; and that any solution should serve the long-term interests of our parliamentary system. However, he made it very clear that the initiative for this must lie with the political parties, and it is for them to discuss a possible solution.