UK Politics for a moment

I spent some time in England this past year, and while I had fun with some great people there, it took a bit of learning to understand the political differences between England and America. British newspapers are far more tabloid based. The "gotcha" journalism is more obvious in the UK as a result, and they clearly wear their politics on their sleeves. That's both a good thing (transparency!) and a bad thing (arrogance!).

Anyways, this is what caught my attention. Conservatives get millions from donors. Here's the money shot:

"Dozens of property firms have given a total of £3.3 million to the party over the past three years, including large gifts from companies seeking to develop rural land..."

Basically, it looks like the Telegraph is upset that the Conservatives (Tories) got £3.3 million over 3 years by land developers. Okay, that might be a "pay for play" deal, but really? £3.3 Million? By more than a dozen donors, who gave the money through conferences and intra-party meetings? And it sounds like it is right up front, so this doesn't feel like it's a backroom deal. It sounds more like basic fundraising, doesn't it? But to be fair, this does come after the major corruption scandal in Parliament (where MPs swindled money for themselves at the tune of billions). But, um, wasn't Labour the ones who were implicated more as a party in that? Anyways, here's where things get a bit more dicey.......for the Telegraph: