Bequest will benefit nation not parties, says Cameron

The Prime Minister said the wording of Joan Edwards’s will made clear that her intention was for the money to “benefit the nation” rather than political parties.

The legacy, disclosed along with other donations on Tuesday, sparked a bizarre row after a copy of the document emerged.

Conservative and Lib Dem officials previously briefed that they had split the money because it was earmarked for “whichever party was in government”.

But the text obtained by the Daily Mail showed Miss Edwards – who died in September aged 90 – identified the beneficiary as “whichever government is in office at the date of my death”.

As the backlash gathered pace, both coalition partners declared they would hand the funds to the Treasury as a gesture of good faith.

However, shortly afterwards the executors of Miss Edwards’s will, Bristol solicitors Davis Wood, released a statement insisting that she had indeed intended the cash to go to political parties rather than the Government.

Speaking during a visit to the Commonwealth Games site in Glasgow, Tory leader Mr Cameron said: “It is a slightly confusing situation, the facts as I understand them are these, the executors of the will decided it was right to pay the money to the parties of government, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

“But I think when you look
 at the wording of the will it
seems to us the intention was more to benefit the nation,
so what we’ve done, the Conservative Party has done, with
our part of the donation is give
it to the Treasury so it can help to pay down the national debt, which I think meets the spirit of what this very generous lady meant.