British Conservative Party Admits To Illegal Campaign Donations

London, England (AHN) - Receiving illegal campaign donations is not the exclusive domain of the British Labour Party after all. On Tuesday, the Conservative Party, which heavily criticized Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Labour Party for receiving funds from real estate developer David Abrahams, admitted to receiving $14,890 in invalid donations.

The money came from two illegal sources; aides of David Cameron, head of the Conservatives, said the receipt of the illegal campaign funds was a genuine mistake and happened only at a local level.

The source of the Tory's shame are Roger Fletcher who donated $11,870 (5,900 pound) and Geoffrey Dobbs with a $3,018 (1,500 pound) campaign gift. Both are not members of the party. Their donation was turned over to the Electoral Commission on November 16.

A Tory spokesman said, "As soon as we became aware that these two donations were not permissible we declared and voluntarily forfeited them to the Electoral Commission."

John Mann, Labour Member of Parliament for Basssetlaw, commented, "In recent weeks, we have heard Mr. Cameron say someone who does not know what is going on in their party is not fit to lead the country. Presumably he believes that is even more true for someone who does not know what is going on in their own constituency office."

The new row is the latest verbal exchange between the two political parties. On Monday, former Prime Minister Sir John Major called Labour sleazier and less competent than the Conservative Party.