§ Lord Brockwayasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will introduce legislation applying the recommendations of the working party of the Hansard Society that companies making donations to political parties should seek the approval of their shareholders.
§ Lord Lucas of ChilworthThe proposals in the report from the Hansard Society about shareholder approval of companies' political donations are part of a voluntary code of practice and the report makes it quite clear tht the code is not dependent on any legislative changes. Moreover, the report stresses that a voluntary code is preferable to a statutory requirement. We have no plans to change the law on this matter.