Parties trade blows over donations

Labour and the Conservatives have traded blows over party funding as the Electoral Commission published details of their loans for the first time.

The Tories were accused of concealing the true extent of their borrowing after they declared loans, amounting to £2.8 million, for only the most recent reporting period.

The Labour Party disclosed more than £28 million of loans, but stressed that these were all its outstanding debts and that it had not borrowed anything in the second quarter of 2006.

But Tory chairman Francis Maude claimed, in turn, that Labour was undermining democracy after the Register of Donations revealed its increasing reliance on union funding.

The row came as the Electoral Commission criticised both parties, along with the Liberal Democrats, Greens and UK Independence Party (UKIP), for failing to declare more than £300,000 of donations.

The Commission said that late reporting was "not acceptable", as it emerged the Tories received almost £217,000 in 2005 without declaring the money in the Register of Donations.

Labour, the Greens and UKIP also made disclosures which were at least six months overdue and there were still more to be declared, the Commission said.

The Labour Party reported £28,200,693.85, all of which was received before the latest accounting period of April to June, it said.

The Tories declared £2,812,000, of which £2.8 million was from Allied Irish Bank.

The Liberal Democrats, who also declared all their outstanding loans amounting to £584,000, demanded that the Tories registered all of their borrowing immediately.