Daniel Snowdon

I have been informed by both an article in the The Times and a close friend of mine that the MEMBERS of the Liberal Democrats are legally liable for the recovering of the illegal loan that the party was donated for last years General Election.

Admittedly this is not the fault of Sir Menzies Campbell who has only been leader for just over 2 months.

However, I must ask, why does the party membership have to pay when we are not the people who accept the loan.

I believe that the responsability of financial matters is the person who directly has control of party finances... is it the President of the Party? At the time of the General Election Simon Hughes was and still is the party President.

Or could it be the actual leader at the time? I like Charles Kennedy but if he is liable then he must pay.

Asking the MEMBERS to pay an extra £30 on top of the £20 average subscription fee, is asking a lot. Worse still, what if someone became a member AFTER the General Election? Would they be liable? I must say that there might be the few who will just leave the party because of this.

Sir Menzies Campbell, please think this through.