Ban big gifts to parties - Labour MP

Mr Blair expressed pride over Labour's big donors

A Labour MP has called for large donations to political parties to be banned - just a day after Prime Minister Tony Blair said several big gifts to his party were something to be proud of.

Battersea MP Martin Linton urged a £100,000 limit on donations and he warned there was a danger that parties would feel "beholden to their donors".

It's not just a question of whom the individuals are, but of the effect it has on politics

Martin Linton

His comments came after a renewed debate on party funding was sparked by three £2m donations from publisher Lord Hamlyn, Science Minister Lord Sainsbury and former Tory supporter Christopher Ondaatje.

The gifts prompted senior backbenchers Clive Soley and Peter Kilfoyle and figures like GMB union boss John Edmonds to express concern about the size of such donations.

In a weekend interview with the BBC's Breakfast with Frost, Mr Blair said he was proud that "successful entrepreneurs and disaffected Conservatives who look at the state of the Conservative Party and say, `It is hopeless, it is incapable of governing the country properly' and support the Labour Party."

New law

A new law is due to come into effect next month which will force the sources of big donations to be named.

But Mr Linton - who previously tried to have the new law amended to limit donations - said he wanted a move away from a situation where political parties were funded by wealthy individuals.

Reservations over big donations

He said: "It's not just a question of whom the individuals are, but of the effect it has on politics.

"For the health of our democracy we should be relying on a large number of small donations, not a small number of large donations."

Praise for Tony Blair

The MP - who called for a Commons debate on the issue - took time to praise Mr Blair for his ability in recruiting entrepreneurs and former Tories to Labour's cause.

His call for limits on donations were later echoed by Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Simon Hughes.

He said: "Recent donations of £2 million each to the Labour Party have raised concerns about the possible influence of large donors over party and government."

"Liberal Democrats recommend a limit of £50,000 on any single donations in any year, so that no one donor can be thought unfairly to influence a major party's policy."

His party have also suggested that political parties should be state funded.