Joan Edwards Bequest Handed Back By Conservatives And Liberal Democrats

Coalition Issues A Refund
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The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are going to hand over the cash they received from an elderly lady's bequest - because it was meant for the government.

The coalition parties confirmed the donation would be given to the Treasury after it was revealed Joan Edwards had left the cash to the government to spend as it saw fit, not the political parties in charge.

It completes a remarkable u-turn in 24 hours - on Wednesday morning Ms Edwards' £520,000 donation featured high in the Electoral Commission's latest party donations report.

Both the Tories and Lib Dems insisted the huge bequest had been aimed at 'the party in government' - so they carved it up on the basis of how many ministers they had.

But after the Daily Mail unearthed a copy of the will, they caved in.