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Police probe urged over donor row Harman facing donor row grilling
(about 4 hours later)
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is facing calls for a police investigation into disguised donations to Labour. Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman is to be put on the spot over unlawful donations when she faces MPs.
He has been under pressure since it emerged that more than £600,000 of donations were made via middlemen. The donations row was prompted by the news that property developer David Abrahams had given more than £650,000 to Labour under other people's names.
Lib Dem acting leader Vince Cable said there seemed to have been "serious" breaches of the law" and called for a police investigation. That breaks the rules on donations and has prompted calls from the Lib Dems and Tories for a police investigation.
Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman is to be questioned by MPs later about a donation she accepted from a middleman. Ms Harman said she took "in good faith" £5,000 from Janet Kidd without knowing it was actually Mr Abrahams' money.
The money was provided by Janet Kidd, one of four people acting on behalf of property developer David Abrahams. He is at the centre of the controversy. 'No evidence'
It has emerged that Mr Abrahams has given Labour more than £650,000 under other people's names over four years - something Mr Brown has described as unlawful and "completely unacceptable". She will face MPs for her weekly grilling as Leader of the House of Commons at about 1130 GMT.
Ms Harman has said she took the £5,000 from Mrs Kidd in good faith, but has since returned the money. The Conservatives have a series of questions they want to ask Ms Harman about whether she knew the money was from Mr Abrahams and how the donation to her deputy leadership campaign came to be offered.
DONORS Ray Ruddick - £196,850Janet Kidd - £185,000 since 2003John McCarthy - £257,125 since 2004Janet Dunn - £25,000Source: Electoral Commission Mendelsohn's full statement Profile: David Abrahams Donor's business interestsDONORS Ray Ruddick - £196,850Janet Kidd - £185,000 since 2003John McCarthy - £257,125 since 2004Janet Dunn - £25,000Source: Electoral Commission Mendelsohn's full statement Profile: David Abrahams Donor's business interests
But her position appears to be increasingly difficult because both the prime minister and Environment Secretary Hilary Benn both refused Mrs Kidd's cheques. Gordon Brown came to her defence on Wednesday saying there was not "one iota" of evidence that she knew about the donation's true origins before Saturday.
But her position was not helped by the revelation that her fellow deputy leadership contender, Hilary Benn, rejected a donation from Janet Kidd after being told by one of his team, Baroness Jay, that the money was actually from Mr Abrahams.
Mr Abrahams, who says he donated money under other people's names to protect his privacy and did not know it broke laws, then agreed to give money to Mr Benn in his own name instead.
'Concealment'
Meanwhile Mr Brown has said his team turned down a donation from Janet Kidd during his leadership campaign because she was not known to them.
Ms Harman said that her team accepted the money after checking Janet Kidd was on the electoral roll and that she was an established Labour Party donor.
The house has noticed the prime minister's remarkable transformation in the last few weeks from Stalin to Mr Bean Vincent CableLib Dems Q&A: Donations row Key players
That explanation led to Ms Harman's husband, Jack Dromey, who is Labour's treasurer, being asked on Wednesday if he had known that Labour had been receiving donations from Mr Abrahams under Janet Kidd and three other people's names.
He did not specifically deny that, saying instead that the donations were "absolutely wrong" and saying "complete concealment" when asked if he or his wife had known about them.
On Monday Labour's general secretary, Peter Watt, resigned after admitting he knew such donations had been made to the party in recent years. He said he did not realise there was anything wrong with the practice.
'Beggars belief'
And on Wednesday it emerged that the party's chief fundraiser, Jon Mendelsohn, was told about the disguised donations last month, shortly after his appointment.
He said he was unhappy about it, and determined it would not continue, but did not tell anyone else as he wanted to sort out the matter with Mr Abrahams personally.
This is something that has got to be cleaned up in the interests of the whole of public life and I'm determined to take that action Gordon Brown at PMQs Analysis: Brown on the rack
It is not clear if any other people in the party knew about the donations.
On Wednesday, at prime minister's questions, Tory leader David Cameron said there had been "disaster after disaster" since Mr Brown took over, and asked if he was "cut out for the job".On Wednesday, at prime minister's questions, Tory leader David Cameron said there had been "disaster after disaster" since Mr Brown took over, and asked if he was "cut out for the job".
Meanwhile, Mr Cable said the prime minister had gone "from Stalin to Mr Bean" in a matter of weeks. He said Mr Brown's explanation "beggars belief" and asked why he had not called in the police to probe what he had agreed were "unlawful" donations.
Mr Brown said he would be judged on his record for delivering low inflation and investing in the NHS and education. Lib Dem acting leader Vince Cable said there seemed to have been "serious" breaches of the law" and called for a police investigation.
The party's general secretary, Peter Watt, has already resigned after admitting he knew about it and Mr Brown has announced an inquiry. Mr Cable said the prime minister had gone "from Stalin to Mr Bean" in a matter of weeks.
Labour's chief fundraiser, Jon Mendelsohn, said he was told about the disguised donations last month and was unhappy about it, and determined it would not continue, but did not tell anyone else as he wanted to sort out the matter with Mr Abrahams personally. Mr Brown said he would be judged on his record for delivering low inflation and investing in the NHS and education and said he had acted immediately he found out about the donations.
Mr Brown has said he had "no knowledge" of the nature of the donations. This action included launching inquiries, informing the Electoral Commission of the position, and returning the money.
However, during heated exchanges in the commons, Mr Cameron said his explanation "beggars belief" and "goes to questions of the prime minister's own integrity".
Pressure on Harriet Harman is likely to grow as she is questioned by MPs
In response, Mr Brown said he had acted immediately to set up two inquiries into Mr Abrahams' donations and said: "All of us on all sides of this House have an interest in integrity in funding to political parties."
Asked why he had not "called in the police" if he thought something unlawful had taken place, Mr Brown said Labour had followed convention in reporting it to the Electoral Commission.
The prime minister also defended Mr Mendelsohn, saying he had only started in the job on 3 September, while the donations stretched back over four years, and had "absolutely no involvement" in the donations.
And he said there was not "one iota" of evidence that Harriet Harman, who has admitted accepting money in Janet Kidd's name - which later turned out to be from Mr Abrahams - knew about its true origins before Saturday.
Meanwhile Janet Dunn, the fourth person to be named as one of Mr Abrahams' intermediaries, who said on Tuesday she knew nothing about the £25,000 donation in her name, has since said that was inaccurate.
She said the whole issue had come as a "complete surprise" and she had not intended to mislead - after reviewing her records she found a cheque to the Labour Party was drawn on her account in 2003.