London - Claims that the Tory Party accepted a £1 million donation from the family of a man who fled Hong Kong to avoid drug trafficking charges has rekindled the smouldering row over party political funding in Britain. After Hong Kong's Oriental Daily News, founded by the alleged donor, Mr Ma Sik-chun, published the claims, the Labour Party demanded the money be repaid and that the Tories make public details of other recent foreign donations.
The Tory leader, Mr William Hague, yesterday said he would return any donation found to have been made illegally.
Meanwhile, the Paymaster General, Mr Geoffrey Robinson, was cleared by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards yesterday of breaching House of Commons rules over his links with an offshore trust.