Osborne admits mistake in donor row

Shadow chancellor George Osborne has admitted he made a mistake in the way he handled his meetings with the billionaire Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska in Corfu.

Osborne, who was accused more than a week ago by billionaire hedge fund chief Nat Rothschild of soliciting a £50,000 donation for the Conservative Party from the Russian, told BBC news, "I neither asked for money nor received any and I didn't break any rules, but I think I did make a mistake."

Donations to political parties from foreigners are illegal under British law and although Osborne has always denied Rothschild's allegation, he admitted, "It's not what you say or do but how it looks... To be honest this didn't look very good and that's something I regret."