The Tory and the oligarch 'donation'
Updated on 21 October 2008
George Osborne admits he did discuss taking money from Russia's richest oligarch, Oleg Deripaska.
A day of bitter acrimony among friends and what they did on their holidays has erupted tonight in the admission from George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, that he took part in discussions about a donation to the Tory party from a Russian billionaire.
In a detailed statement, the shadow chancellor said he'd met aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska four times over a weekend in Corfu, at a villa and on board the Russian's luxury yacht.
It's in the villa where it's claimed discussions took place and whether a contribution could be given though "legitimate UK trading companies" owned by the Russian.
But tonight the Conservatives insisted it had refused a potential donation from a British firm owned by Mr Deripaska because it was "inappropriate".
Chris Huhne interview
Jon Snow interviews Chris Huhne, a senior member of the Liberal Democrat's frontbench team, about the donation row.
A class thing?
We were joined by Peter York to discuss the row. He co-authored Cooler, Faster More Expensive: The Return of the Sloane Ranger, a book about the upper classes .
