BRITAIN:Liberal Democrat leadership contender Chris Huhne moved to force a criminal inquiry into Labour's secret donations scandal yesterday after Gordon Brown was challenged to explain why he himself had not already called in the police, writes Frank Millar, London Editor.
The challenge came during bitter exchanges in the House of Commons, where Conservative leader David Cameron suggested the affair raised questions about the prime minister's own integrity, while a series of setbacks for his government had left the public wondering if Mr Brown was actually "cut out for the job".
Mr Brown delivered a strong and seemingly confident defence of his own position, and that of Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman. He also reminded the Tory leader that Labour had previously changed the rules to increase transparency and accountability, and insisted he was ready to act again to make sure party political funds were "above board".
However, Mr Brown's attempts to distance himself from the controversy suffered a setback when his recently appointed fundraiser Jon Mendelsohn admitted he had learned of the practice by which property developer David Abrahams made donations of more than £650,000 through four proxies or middlemen.
Mr Mendelsohn, who was appointed in September, said he was "unhappy with the arrangement" and intended to bring it to an end, but had not discussed the matter with the party leadership or the officers of Labour's national executive committee.
Labour's then general secretary, Peter Watt, who resigned on Monday, had advised Mr Mendelsohn that the arrangement with Mr Abrahams was long-standing and appropriate in relation to the party's reporting requirements.
However, Mr Mendelsohn was "very concerned that these arrangements did not meet the strict transparency test" that he wished to see in place, and he had asked an assistant at the beginning of November to try to arrange a personal meeting so that he could tell Mr Abrahams that his method of donation was unacceptable.
However, it was not clear if a typed letter signed on November 22nd was sent to Mr Abrahams before Labour received Sunday newspaper inquiries about the donations.
Mr Mendelsohn also confirmed that the letter to Mr Abrahams made no reference to the intended subject matter of their meeting. "He was only given the general reason for the meeting that I wanted to update him on our plans."
In the Commons Mr Cameron demanded to know why Mr Mendelsohn remained in the post, having waited a month while failing to tell the prime minister, the police or anyone else what he had discovered. Mr Cameron also pressed Mr Brown, who admitted that the donations were not lawfully declared, on why he had not asked the police to investigate.
Mr Brown insisted Labour had properly reported the matter to the electoral commission and that it was for them to decide if the police should be involved.
But Mr Cameron said Mr Brown's explanations beggared belief, contending that the question of referral to the police was "not the exclusive competence" of the commission.
If Mr Brown thought something unlawful had taken place, said Mr Cameron, he had a duty to report it.
While Mr Cameron may have failed to land any "killer" blows yesterday, Mr Brown also found himself at the cutting edge of ridicule administered by acting Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable. He said the entire House had witnessed the prime minister's "remarkable transformation, from Stalin to Mr Bean, creating chaos out of order and order out of chaos".
Sustaining the line in humorous attacks, Conservative Michael Ancram observed that Mr Brown only ever seemed to learn of problems "at the last minute", prompting him to wonder why he thought members of his government appeared intent on "keeping him in the dark".