A senior British minister faced accusations yesterday that he had accepted illegal political donations, the latest funding row to hit Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government.
Britain's Sunday Mirror newspaper said a donor channeled 3,334 pounds ($6,600) to Health Secretary Alan Johnson through a proxy, which is banned under political funding rules brought in by the ruling Labour Party.
The Johnson row is the third party funding dispute to hit Brown's government since he took office in June last year, pledging a fresh start after a Labour funding scandal that overshadowed Tony Blair's final months in office.
Johnson denied any wrongdoing, saying there had been no reason to believe the money had come from a third party and his team had declared the donation.
Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain, another senior cabinet member, quit the government last week after electoral authorities referred questions about funding for his deputy leadership campaign to the police.
While funding for other British political parties has also come under the spotlight, Labour has suffered the brunt of the scandals and analysts said they gave Brown's critics ammunition.
After a smooth start, Brown is now fighting to improve his standing in the opinion polls after a crisis over the mortgage lender Northern Rock, administrative blunders and signs the economy is slowing.
Johnson said he had been surprised to see reports that a donor to his campaign for deputy leader, Waseem Siddiqui, was given the cash by his brother and asked to write a blank cheque.
"There's no impropriety in this," Johnson told reporters. "We checked that he was on the electoral role, that he's registered to vote in this country. We also checked, although we are not required to, whether he was a member of the Labour Party and he is."
Source: China Daily/Agencies
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