Osborne faces donor claims
Sunday, 13 Jan 2008 11:51
George Osborne has denied wrongdoing
Shadow chancellor George Osborne faces criticism today after a newspaper said he had failed to declare nearly £500,000 of donations.
The Mail on Sunday has published a spreadsheet for his "donors wish account" showing £487,000 of income including six-figure donations from Lady Serena Rothschild, Sir John Beckwith and Hugh Sloane.
None of these donations were acknowledged in Mr Osborne's entry in the Commons' register of members' interests. Interpretation of whether the donations were "expressly tied to the member by name" appears to be the loophole causing the problem.
"These donations are to the Conservative party, they are openly declared and we have followed the rules as they were explained to us," Mr Osborne said in a statement this morning.
He claims a misunderstanding took place between himself and Commons adviser Alda Berry, who is in charge of the register of members' interests, on the issue.
"Ms Barry has now told us that her initial advice may have been unclear," the shadow chancellor added, saying an email exchange took place after which he was told "my declarations were in order".
Conservative chief whip Patrick McLoughlin has written to the clerk of the Commons' committee of standards and privileges seeking clarification on how staff working for the Tories to support shadow Cabinet members should be registered.
"As you will see, there is some confusion about what the process should be and I wish to be able to ensure that members of the shadow Cabinet comply with what is required by the House," Mr McLoughlin writes.
The incident is likely to deflect attention from the current donations row surrounding work and pensions secretary Peter Hain.
Yesterday Mr Hain dismissed claims he was deliberately false about donations to his failed Labour deputy leadership campaign as "absurd".