BRITAIN: British police have questioned several donors to the British Conservative Party in an investigation into whether parties offered peerages to businessmen in return for loans, a party spokesman said yesterday.
Robert Edmiston, the head of car importing firm IM Group, was one of those questioned, a Conservative Party spokesman said.
"A number of our donors have been interviewed [ by police]. It happened some time ago. We've always said we'd co-operate fully with any police inquiry," he said.
He could not confirm the names of three other Conservative Party donors who the Times newspaper said had been questioned, but said he had no reason to doubt the accuracy of the story.
The Times said Lord Laidlaw, former party treasurer Lord Ashcroft, and Johan Eliasch, a Swedish sports equipment tycoon, had also been questioned by police as part of the inquiry which has shaken British politics. Police said they had interviewed "a number of individuals" but refused to identify them.
Reports on the investigation have focused on the Labour government.
As part of their investigation, police arrested the Labour Party's top fundraiser Lord Michael Levy; Des Smith, a 60-year-old former adviser on Tony Blair's flagship schools programme; and Christopher Evans, founder of biotechnology company Merlin Biosciences.
All three were released on bail without charge and deny wrongdoing. At least two government ministers are among the 48 people known to have been questioned during the police inquiry.