Party funding: Tories more successful at pulling in biggest donations

THE Tory election war chest swelled with twice as many large donations as Labour's during the first week of the campaign according to figures released as a Minister was berated in the street by an angry pub landlord.

Figures covering donations of more than 7,500 reveal David Cameron's party received 33 gifts worth 1,455,811, compared with Labour, which received 783,159 from seven sources and the Lib Dems with 20,000 from two.

Tory donors included 250,000 from IPGL Ltd, a company controlled by the party's treasurer Michael Spencer, 100,000.

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The bulk of Labour's donations came from unions. The Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians gave 371,000, while the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers handed over 266,953.

The donations were revealed as the Prime Minister was forced to leave accompanying journalists and photographers at the gates as he visited the Drove People's Campus in Swindon, much to the anger of Labour which accused the Tory-controlled council of playing party politics.

Outside the centre, Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband was confronted by pub landlord John Doyle who claimed he was being hit by business rates, regulations and the high price of beer and was thinking of voting Liberal Democrat.

He told Mr Miliband, who is fighting to be re-elected in Doncaster North, the council was chasing him for 800 of unpaid business rates, saying: "I have worked my a*** off under Gordon's regime and now I'm going to go bankrupt for a second time."

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But after being invited inside to talk to the Prime Minister, he emerged satisfied that he had been pledged help from the Swindon South candidate for Labour, Anne Snelgrove – and said he would probably vote Labour after all.

Earlier yesterday Mr Brown sought to portray Labour as the party of manufacturing as he announced a new manifesto for economic growth.

The Prime Minister said Labour would back research and investment by firms as part of a new "industrial activism" and announced an extension on tax relief on investments of up to 100,000 would remain for the whole of the next parliament under Labour.

Speaking at BMW's Mini plant in Oxford, Mr Brown claimed that the Tories would put economic growth at risk.

He said: "We have been fighting for the future of our economy, a future where we can come out of the recession and have strong growth."