This article by Justin Fisher, advisor to the Hayden Phillips Review, in Political Quarterly (sub required) argues that both Labour and the Conservatives have exaggerated the reservations towards caps on donations and spending.  Labour would be likely to suffer if more extensive regulation was introduced and that the Conservatives have stalled the debate by questioning the relationship between Labour and the trade unions.  The best chance of success, he concludes, in funding reform is through consensus rather than moves to secure partisan advantage. 

Amid all the hoo-ha about British MPs expenses - fridges, sofas, and food allowances - what about the electoral advantage of being able to spend over a 100 grand a year digging into your constituency?  Yet as Ron Johnston and Charles Pattie show in this paper, there appears to be no relationship at all between parliamentary expenditure by Labour or Liberal Democrat MPs and their electoral performance.   There is, though, a benefit for Conservative MPs.  All those Labour MPs thinking that their communication allowance might save them next time, might need to think again.