GORDON BROWN is preparing to announce curbs on spending by political parties which will prevent Tory candidates from gaining an advantage in marginal seats.

His first Queen’s speech this week, in which the prime minister will set out his legislative programme for the coming year, will signal a party funding bill to close a legal loophole that has allowed the Conservatives to splurge money on key constituencies in the run-up to the next general election.

Ministers have expressed concern that millions of pounds being provided to Tory candidates by Lord Ashcroft, the former party treasurer and one of the party’s biggest backers, is damaging Labour’s chances in marginal seats.

The move to put a limit on spending comes after talks between the main political parties over reforms proposed by Sir Hayden Phillips, the former Whitehall mandarin, broke down. The Tories were prepared to accept a £50,000 annual cap on individual donations, but Labour has refused to agree because that would mean giving up the large sums it receives from the trade unions.

While overall spending during a general election is now capped by law, there has been no limit on what parties spend between elections and before the official election campaign period is called.

This weekend Labour MPs raised further concerns over Ashcroft after it emerged that the peer had funded luxury private jet trips abroad for members of the shadow cabinet.

The 32 working journeys to places such as Israel, China, Mali and the Czech Republic have been declared by the MPs involved but Labour is suggesting that the full commercial value of the trips is more than has been acknowledged.

Tom Watson, a Labour whip and MP for West Bromwich East, said: “There appears to be a huge discrepancy between say, David Cameron’s declaration of £16,000 for the cost of his trip to Darfur and the cost of hiring a similar jet from a commercial firm. I got a quote of over £100,000 to hire a jet to go to Khartoum.”

But Ashcroft defended the use of the private plane, saying: “I hope it will be used by all the shadow cabinet over the next few years.”

Other bills in the Queen’s speech include a counter-terrorism bill, which will introduce a foreign travel ban for convicted terrorists. It will also enable the police to continue questioning suspects after they have been charged, and increase the length of time for which terrorism suspects can be questioned without charge.

An education bill will in effect raise the leaving age for school or training from 16 to 18.

A climate change bill will create financial incentives for households to recycle waste, and a constitutional reform bill will give parliament new powers to keep the government in check.

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