The wealthy businessman suspected of breaking the law by anonymously giving more than £380,000 to the Labour party through third parties today claimed that he had no idea he was doing anything wrong.

David Abrahams, a property developer, said that he had been donating through friends and colleagues since before the Labour cash for honours affair.

"I didn't have the rule book in front of me when I suggested the donations, and I wasn't aware until this weekend that any third party had to be identified specifically," Mr Abrahams told BBC Radio 4's Today programme, in his first substantial interview since the matter became public.

He denied that he had been seeking any advantage by donating to Labour secretly. " I never thought twice about anything untoward... Nobody is expecting favours when you give money to charities or universities, and I wouldn't expect it when I give to the Labour party, that wasn't my intention."

Expert View

Seven years ago Labour made a song and dance of cleaning up politics with legislation requiring the declaration of political donations - now the same issue threatens to come back and bite them

Greg Hurst

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The episode threatens to reignite the controversy over donations to Labour after the year-long police inquiry into whether the party sold peerages to wealthy supporters, which ended with no charges being brought but cost millions of pounds.

In a bizarre twist, one of the people Mr Abrahams used was a jobbing builder who so dislikes politics he does not even vote. The other was a woman who works for him. Both are of modest means.

Around two thirds of the sum that was donated – a total of £222,000 – was given to Labour in the six months since Gordon Brown entered Downing Street as Prime Minister, making Mr Abrahams Labour's third largest donor over that period, behind Lord Sainsbury of Turville and Anglo-Iranian businessman Mahmoud Khayami.

The Electoral Commission demanded an explanation as Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, admitted the donations were “plainly not transparent”.

“Whether these arrangements are within the letter of the law they are plainly not transparent. I am concerned about them,” he said “I shall ask both the Electoral Commission and my officials for immediate advice on what action should be taken.”

Labour began an inquiry to check whether the donations complied with the law requiring that gifts to political parties over a modest amount are fully declared. Donations made via third parties are illegal unless the person behind the donation is also declared or there is a “reasonable excuse”.

Today the Conservatives went further, calling for a full investigation by the Electoral Commission to begin at once, and an inquiry by the backbench justice committee.

Andrew Tyrie, a Tory member of the committee, said that Labour itself had passed the law on political donations, which was specifically designed to prevent disguised gifts through third parties.

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