Campbell's pay-off queried

Alastair Campbell's severance pay under scrutiny

The severance pay of Downing Street press secretary Alastair Campbell and other former special advisers has been queried by the election watchdog.

The Electoral Commission, which is monitoring campaign spending, said not enough had been done by the Cabinet Office to avoid public perception that Labour was receiving an "inappropriate subsidy from the taxpayer".

The Commission was ruling on a complaint by a Conservative candidate, who described the payments as a "flagrant abuse of public money" - a view dismissed by Labour.

Andrew Tyrie: Criticised pay of Labour senior advisers

The money was paid to Mr Campbell and other special advisers when they resigned their government posts to join Labour's campaign team after the election was called.

The Commission said that if Mr Campbell and his colleagues were re-employed after polling day, they would be able to keep part of their severance payments.

'Criminal offence'

The commission's chairman, Sam Younger said the position was "'far from satisfactory."

And he suggested that the courts might rule that if Mr Campbell and his colleagues did keep part of their severance payments, they could be considered as political donations.

Andrew Tyrie, who is seeking re-election as Conservative MP for Chichester and is a former special adviser to the Tories, said the transfer of Mr Campbell and other special advisers from employment in the government to the Labour Party was "a flagrant abuse of public money".

He claimed that if Labour failed to declare these payments as political donations this would be a criminal offence.

Spending gap

But a Labour spokesman told BBC News Online that he did not believe that political parties were expected to declare severance payments to senior advisers as political donations.

"It is astonishing that a time the rest of the country is debating the future of schools and hospitals, Andrew Tyrie continues to be obsessed by his former profession.

"Perhaps he is still hoping to plug the £20bn gap in Tory spending plans with the salaries of a few special advisers," he said.

He added that Labour would be writing to the Electoral Commission on the matter.