A lender nor a borrower be

An embarrassment shared is an embarrassment halved.

So the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition seem to be thinking. This Tuesday, Tony Blair and David Cameron will meet to discuss party funding - a subject which has embroiled both their parties in trouble.

Francis Maude

Scotland Yard is investigating allegations that peerages were sold for donations. The Minister Lord Sainsbury - one of the biggest financial backers of the Labour Party - has apologised and blamed a mix-up for not disclosing a large loan to the party to his Permanent Secretary. While the Electoral Commission is probing whether loans made to the parties were made within the rules.

The Conservatives - under pressure about who precisely gave them loans believed to amount to £16m - said today that they would now give the commission the names of the lenders. But they don't plan to disclose them all to the public.

We spoke to the chairman of the Tory Party, Francis Maude. If they are prepared to give the names of their lenders to the commission, why won't they tell the public as well?