Jack Dromey claimed that he was the victim of “complete concealment” as Labour’s treasurer faced questions yesterday over how, for the second time, he had remained ignorant of hidden donations.

Mr Dromey was pitched into the row over David Abrahams when it was revealed that his wife, Harriet Harman, had taken money from Mr Abrahams through an intermediary.

Ms Harman insists that she did not know that the £5,000 she received from Janet Kidd had, in fact, come from Mr Abrahams, a Newcastle-upon-Tyne property developer.

But while her denials have helped to save her political career for now, they have done nothing for her husband’s reputation as an effective treasurer.

Q&A: secret donor scandal

Our Political Correspondent analyses the origins of the secret donor sleaze row and its potential implications

• Timeline: Labour's secret donor row

Multimedia

• Video: Brown under fire in Parliament

• Pictures: Labour funding row - key players

BACKGROUND

• A walking paradox who gave £600,000

• Brown is made to play the fool in stage farce

• Jack Dromey declares he is victim of concealment

Related Links

• Brown is made to play the fool in stage farce

In March 2006 Mr Dromey dramatically intervened in the cash-for-peer-ages affair, insisting that he had not known that Labour had accepted millions of pounds in secret loans, and describing them as “absolutely wrong”.

Mr Dromey, party treasurer since 2004, reprised the phrase when confronted by reporters as he left the couple’s home in South London. “What happened was absolutely wrong. The Prime Minister and the Labour Party have been right to act,” he said. “All parties have a responsibility to ensure the highest standards in public life, and that’s what I’ve always stood for all of my life.”

Mr Dromey, clearly angry, twice used the phrase “complete concealment” when he was asked why he had not known about Mr Abrahams’s secret donations, but did not elaborate further.

Times Recommends

• In Margot Fonteyn's footsteps
• Forget beautiful people, let's have wonky Brits
• Fundamentalist brew: faith and power