Johnson denies donations cover-up

Updated 23.32 Sun Jan 27 2008

Keywords: Johnson, donations, labour

Health Secretary Alan Johnson has denied any wrongdoing in the latest donations scandal to hit the Labour Party.

Reports claimed that immigrant Waseem Siddiqui was used to channel more than £3,000 to Johnson's failed campaign to become deputy Labour leader.

A statement from Mr Johnson's deputy leadership campaign denied any deliberate wrongdoing

However, the 50-year-old said he did not know who the Health Secretary was, and his brother, a Labour official, had asked him to write a blank cheque.

Mr Siddiqui is said to be a Pakistani who has been living in Croydon, Surrey, on a student visa for the past three years.

He claimed his brother Ahmed Yar Mohammed, treasurer of Croydon Central Labour Party, asked him to write the cheque for £3,334, and then gave him the money.

A statement from Mr Johnson's deputy leadership campaign denied any deliberate wrongdoing.

Mr Johnson's campaign admitted that the donation from Mr Siddiqui - made in June - and three other donations had not appeared on the Electoral Commission register.

However, it insisted that paperwork was filed for all the gifts within the 60-day limit.

"When we checked the Electoral Commission website we found that four donations, which to the best of our knowledge had been submitted in accordance with the regulations, were not listed," the statement said.

"We registered the donation and apologised for this delay. There was never any wrongdoing and at every stage we have consulted the Electoral Commission on making sure these donations are properly disclosed."

An Electoral Commission spokeswoman said permissibility checks were carried out on all declared donations before they were added to its register. The aim is to complete these checks within 20 days.

Mr Johnson's team are believed to have approached the Commission over the four "missing" gifts on December 6.

The Commission spokeswoman confirmed that Commonwealth nationals can appear on the UK electoral register under certain circumstances, and can therefore be eligible to donate money.