David Abraham may never get his money back since, under electoral law, donations must be returned within 30 days or else any which any forfeited gifts must be paid into the Treasury’s Consolidated Fund – something which has this year alone happened to £25,000 donated to the Conservatives and £40,000 donated to the Liberal Democrats.

Labour also doesn’t seem to know whether or not it still has the illegal donations in it’s bank account, which really does show a lack of financial knowledge within the party. It’s one thing not to be sure who to give the money to and to say that, but to be “not sure” what has happened with nearly £700,000 is pretty damn poor.

That forfeited donations go to the government instead of being returned to the donor is a good thing. Both the political party and the donor should ensure that all is above board before any donation is made, and if they don’t then they both deserve to lose the money – if not more as a fine. But there should be very strict controls over the use of that money – otherwise, as Dizzy notes, it’s a win-win situation for Brown, since “when it’s the party in power it’s a little like just moving [the money] from one bank account to another but where the signatory is the same.”

Sources: The Telegraph, BBC, The Times, The Guardian