British prime minister David Cameron bowed to pressure today and disclosed his own contacts with wealthy donors after a newspaper sting caught a top fundraiser for his party offering meetings with the premier in return for big contributions.
Conservative party co-treasurer Peter Cruddas resigned after the Sunday Times filmed him telling reporters posing as financiers that, for £250,000, they could dine with Mr Cameron and might possibly influence government policy.
Although Mr Cameron and other senior Conservatives distanced themselves from Mr Cruddas's behaviour, calling it "unacceptable", the scandal is potentially deeply damaging for Mr Cameron as it revives worries over the corrosive influence of money on British politics and reinforces the prime minister’s image as a friend of the rich.
The episode played into the Labour Party's accusations that Mr Cameron and other senior Conservatives, who come from wealthy, privileged backgrounds, are out of touch with ordinary people who are being forced to tighten their belts to cope with the government's deficit-cutting measures.
The funding row broke days after chancellor George Osborne announced a cut in the top rate of tax for the highest earners, exposing the Conservative-led coalition government, which won power in 2010, to Labour charges that the pain of austerity was not being shared between rich and poor.
After initially resisting Labour calls to disclose which party donors had dined with him at his private apartment above the premier's office at 10 Downing Street, Mr Cameron gave way to the pressure today and announced he would publish the names.
He denied that any of those invited had been recommended by Mr Cruddas, describing most of them as people he had known for many years. Neither had Mr Cruddas - himself a big donor to the Tories - ever attended a Downing Street dinner.
"In the two years I have been prime minister, there have been three occasions on which significant donors have come to dinner in my flat," he said, during a speech in London. "In addition there was a further thank you dinner, which included donors, in Downing Street itself shortly after the general election.
"None of these dinners were fund-raising dinners, and none of these dinners were paid for by the taxpayer."
Mr Cameron also promised that the Conservatives would publish details every quarter of any meals with the prime minister attended by any major donor to his party.
The Conservatives said they would hold an internal inquiry, although they resisted Labour calls for an independent inquiry into the affair, drawing scorn from the opposition.
"It is just not acceptable or credible in any way at all for the Conservative Party to investigate themselves," Labour MP Michael Dugher told BBC radio.
An aide to Mr Cameron portrayed the disgraced treasurer, who rose from a modest background to make millions as a currency trading entrepreneur, as having broken with party guidelines: "We are just as flabbergasted as you guys," the aide told reporters when answering questions about Mr Cruddas's remarks. "We are more transparent than any government and any prime minister have ever been. We behaved properly. What Cruddas was doing was totally unacceptable."
However, the aide said there was nothing wrong with the prime minister meeting people who had also given to the party. "We shouldn't discount policy ideas simply because they have been put in by a donor," the aide said.
Mr Cruddas told the journalists posing as financiers that their concerns about government policies would be fed into a prime ministerial policy committee.
Mr Cameron said the government would put in place new procedures so that if any ministerial contact with a party donor prompted a request for policy advice, the minister concerned would seek advice from civil servants.
The prime minister offered to resume talks with other parties on how they fund their political organisations and said he was ready to impose a cap on individual political donations of £50,000.
Party funding has long been a toxic issue in British politics and has periodically led to scandals affecting both Conservatives and Labour.
Reuters