We must stop big money corrupting our democracy

As the world enters a long period of political instability, European (and Irish) politicians need to convince a sceptical public they are on their side, not that of their donors or corporate interests, writes John Devitt

Elon Musk: Instead of addressing the risk that the world’s richest man could help buy future British elections, the UK government has instead committed itself to loosening financial regulations in the City of London. Picture: AP /Jose Luis Magana

It’s only recently that I understood that the apocryphal Chinese blessing, ‘May you live in interesting times’ was meant to be a curse. If by ‘interesting’ we mean a time when the rule of international law is breaking down, the world’s most powerful democracy slides towards authoritarianism and its president is abandoning and even threatening to annex its allies, it would be easy to imagine we’ve done something to stir some supernatural grudge.

We are about to write another particularly bleak chapter of world history as kleptocrats and their ethno-nationalist collaborators take a wrecking ball to democratic norms and institutions around the world. They are doing this with the financial support and acquiescence of some of the wealthiest people on the planet and their enablers across the corporate sector.