BAD LOANS

BY RAY FLEMING IT is difficult to say which of Britain's two main political parties has behaved the more reprehensibly in the loans and donations affair. Yesterday's partial revelations by the Conservatives produced familiar names and a pattern of fund–raising that has sailed very close to the legal wind for many years. Labour immediately tried to make the most of the refusal of the Conservatives to name some ten names but the old principle that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones surely applies here. Many life–long Labour supporters have been appalled by the way the prime minister and a small inner circle raised funds and by the apparent connection in some cases with peerages and contracts. Mr Blair and Mr Cameron are due to meet on Tuesday to discuss this matter; in a sense David Cameron is in a slightly better position since he inherited these problems when he became leader whereas Tony Blair is the author of his own misfortunes. In a perfect world the wider interests of British politics might be best served if both parties were to join in a solemn pledge that fund–raising will in future be conducted with total transparency and in the spirit as well as the letter of existing and future official guidelines. Unfortunately, politics is not a perfect world and the involvement of the Electoral Commission and the reported interest of the Metropolitan Police means that rumours and revelations will persist for some time to come.