More bad news for the Labour party on the front page of this morning's Guardian.The paper has got hold of a leaked document from the electoral commission which has

"strong reservations" about proposals to reform party funding put forward by the justice secretary, Jack Straw.

The proposals centre around the attempt to reduce the influence of the likes of Lord Ashcroft by closing the loophole over how much funding can be put into a constituency outside of election time.Currently this is limited to £11,000 during elections.

Lord Ashcroft put in excess of £2m in marginal seats ahead of the 2005 election of which 33 became Tory

Peter Hoskin writing over at Coffee House points out that

Of course, the commission can't block the legislation. But the reforms would only come into effect after it's offered its guidance. And the commission's reservations mean that Straw may be waiting some time for that. So much time, in fact, that it's looking unlikely the changes will come into effect before the next election. So, Tory spending in marginal seats will remain unchecked.