Tories demands Chancellor’s resignation on graft charges

LONDON, SEPT 20: Britain's Opposition Conservative Party called on Chancellor Gordon Brown to resign on Tuesday over allegations that he h...

LONDON, SEPT 20: Britain’s Opposition Conservative Party called on Chancellor Gordon Brown to resign on Tuesday over allegations that he had lied over a one million pound (1.6 million euros, $1.4 million ) donation to Labour Party funds. The allegations come at a time when Brown is already under intense pressure for his refusal to cut tax on petrol after last week’s nationwide fuel protests.

The row dates back to 1997 when it emerged that Bernard Ecclestone, the head of Formula One, had made a one million pound gift to the Labour Party. At the time, Brown told journalists he did not know if Ecclestone had made the gift, but a new book being serialised in British newspapers claims that the Chancellor did know about the donation.

The issue was politically explosive because the government was planning to exempt Formula One from a ban on tobacco adverting which would have cost the sport millions of pounds. Michael Portillo, the Conservative Treasury spokesman, said on Tuesday evening that Brown should resign as a matter of honour. "You cannot have a chancellor of the exchequer whose word is not his bond," he said.

"The Labour Party received one million pounds and the government then changed its policy on tobacco advertising. Mr Brown was therefore untruthful about a major matter of public policy." "From now on, no one will be able to believe a word he says," Portillo added. "The Prime Minister has said that his administration would be purer than pure. "Mr Brown has clearly failed that test. As a matter of honour he should step down from the Treasury immediately."

Downing Street said the chancellor had no intention of resigning. "Gordon Brown is one of the most successful chancellors in living memory," it said in a statement. "There is no question of doing what Mr Portillo was asking for." The row over the donation ran its course three years ago and the new accusations, taken on their own, do not threaten the government. They could, however, tarnish the squeaky-clean image presented by the Labour party when it took over from a Conservative government mired in allegations of sleaze.

They also come at a bad time for Blair, who faces his worst poll ratings since coming to power because of his handling of the petrol crisis. Downing Street has dismissed the claims that Blair or Brown had misled the public about the donation from Ecclestone. When the row first surfaced in November 1997, Brown was asked on BBC radio whether the tycoon had donated money to the party. Not as far as he knew, replied Brown. "I’ve not been told and I certainly don’t know what the truth is." However, in the new book by political journalist Andrew Rawnsley, Brown was said to have been well aware of the donation, as Blair had specifically asked him for advice about it the previous week.

The Finance Minister was quoted by one witness in the book as raging after the radio interview: "I lied. I lied. My credibility will be in shreds. If this gets out, I’ll be destroyed." The book then claims Blair also misled the public, by insisting in a BBC television interview that he had already asked a parliamentary ethics committee to advise on the donation before the row broke out. Not only did his request only come after the controversy erupted, but it was about a second donation, not the one for one million pounds, the book alleges.