A senior fundraiser for Britain's ruling Conservative Party resigned on Sunday after being secretly filmed offering exclusive access to Prime Minister David Cameron in return for donations of 250,000 pounds a year.
The disclosure is damaging for Cameron's party which has tried to shake off an image of being too close to the interests of business and the rich as Britain undergoes a strict austerity program to cut its budget deficit.
The party's co-Treasurer Peter Cruddas stood down within hours of the Sunday Times newspaper publishing video of him telling undercover reporters, posing as international financiers, that the contributions would enable them to ask Cameron "practically any question you want".
The Sunday Times reporters had posed as
Liechtenstein-based fund managers who wanted to develop contacts with
Cameron and other ministers on behalf of their Middle East investors.
Cruddas
told them the access would be "awesome for your business", adding some
of the party's bigger donors had enjoyed dinner with Cameron and his
wife Samantha in their private apartment at his Number 10 Downing Street
office.
For more: British PM's fundraiser quits over cash for access claim | Reuters
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