Michael Brown, the Lib Dems largest donor ever, has been convicted of being a bogus businessman. He donated £2.4 million to them in 2005, but it has now been revealed that his company, 5th Avenue Partners – through which he donated the money – was “just a sham”.

Political parties are only allowed to accept donations from companies that are actually “carrying on business”. Which 5th Avuenue Partners was not. And not only that, the money Michael Brown donated to the Lib Dems wasn’t his to give away in the first place.

Now the Electoral Commission is going to re-open its enquiries.

So what’s going to happen to the money? One thing is for sure, the money doesn’t belong to the Lib Dems, and they should give it back to those to whom it belongs. But can they survive if they do? It seems unlikely…