Brown leadership campaign donor is given government job

Gordon Brown is facing new sleaze allegations, over the appointment to a government post of a businessman who gave 12,700 to his leadership campaign.

The Opposition called for the sacking of Paul Myners, who is heading the Government's drive to encourage people to save for their retirement, after he attacked the Tories during a television programme.

Mr Brown was accused of misleading the public because the Government said Mr Myners had made no donations to a political party when he was appointed as chairman of the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority in July. He is paid 150,000 a year for a two-day week.

Mr Myners gave 9,700 to Mr Brown's campaign in May and a further 3,000 in June. Appearing on BBC1's Question Time last week, he described David Cameron and the shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, as "the arrogant, superior young toffs who lead the Conservative Party, neither of whom have done a serious day's work in their life".

The Tories made a formal complaint yesterday on the grounds that Mr Myners should not make party political remarks and that his donation to Mr Brown should have been disclosed when he got his job.

Chris Grayling, the shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said Mr Myners' position was untenable. "The Government also needs to explain as a matter of urgency how it could declare that Paul Myners had no involvement in a political party and had made no donations when he was a financial supporter of Gordon Brown's leadership campaign," he said.

"This latest incident is symptomatic of the culture of cronyism that continues to exist under this Government and it shows that ministers have a cavalier approach to ensuring that rules are respected."

Mr Myners hit back in a letter to Mr Grayling, saying he had appeared on the programme "in a personal capacity" and that no mention had been made of his role with the authority. "It was not my intention to cause offence and I regret it if any was taken," he said, insisting he had also been "deeply critical" of government policy during the show.

He added: "I am not and never have been a member or a donor to a political party." But he promised to avoid "statements that could be construed as party political" in future.

The Department of Work and Pensions said Mr Myners had been the "best candidate for the job". It added: "Paul Myners is not a civil servant and is therefore not subject to the Civil Service code. He is not in breach of his contract."

An attack over sleaze by David Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions fell flat when he criticised the delay in appointing a new chairman for the Committee on Standards in Public Life. Mr Brown told him that the new head was about to be named. The appointee was announced an hour later as Sir Christopher Kelly, chairman of the NSPCC and Financial Ombudsman Service.

Labour jitters over the Government's recent troubles are illustrated by a strong attack by two MPs in today's edition of New Statesman magazine. Jon Cruddas and John Trickett say: "We're faced with crises of both substance and style, and these are coming together to create a perfect storm of political havoc."

They add: "New Labour essentially raised the white flag and inverted the principle of social democracy. The life of the party has been purposefully sucked from it... Both party and unions have stayed silent for too long, for fear of letting in the Tories. But Labour's essential identity is in real danger; there is more risk in not speaking up."

Andrew Grice's online column can be found at independent.co.uk/todayinpolitics