Labour in the red

A cheering story from today's Independent:

Labour is in no fit financial state to fight the next election because it has been "bankrupted" by the cash for honours affair, senior Labour MPs have warned.

MPs, including those on Labour's ruling body, say the party does not have the cash to pay back almost £10m in loans due to be repaid this year.

Labour figures are also bracing themselves for a massive legal bill for advice to party figures caught up in the police investigation into cash for honours.

The scale of Labour's debt is so large that all money coming into the party, which could have been channelled to vulnerable seats, will have to be diverted to pay off a huge number loans.

I think we see why state funding of political parties is suddenly on the agenda.