Nobody on this thread has directly accused any of the DFT, LNER or CAF of wrongdoing. We're all well aware that there's a high likelihood that this was a standard award and that the donations CAF made to the Tory party were coincidental and unrelated. What some (including myself) have done is point out that it doesn't look good regardless what really happened and that with this current government you really can't rule out anything untoward.
So what's the point making a fuss over something that is probably perfectly fine but just doesn't
look good? If, as you say, everyone is well aware that the donations are probably coincidental, then what on Earth was the point of this whole thread? I dunno about anyone else, but I want to live in a society where we make sure that things actually
are fine, honest and not corrupt. I do not want to live in a society where everyone is focused on whether stuff
looks good irrespective of whether it actually is OK (And for example, where people hesitate to make perfectly legitimate donations or do other perfectly legitimate things because they might not
look good). There's already a good hint in this post quoted below that this obsession with appearances already happens maybe too much. Why make the problem worse?
Certainly where I work, a large amount of the anti bribary training isn't about bribes that would actually make any material difference but how to avoid giving the impression of wrongdoing and damaging the companies reputation.
