Liberal Democrats happy to take "dirty money"

Their political opponents never tire of pointing out that the squeaky-clean Liberal Democrats often show a remarkable degree of flexibility over their much-vaunted principles when it comes to the nitty-gritty of political organising.

I can't think of a better illustration than Paul Marshall's confirmation that, yes, his hedgfund was last year among those shorting shares in British banks.   

Keen followers of Lib Demmery will recall that:

i) the Lib Dems have led the calls for a permanent ban on shorting bank shares

 ii) on Saturday a certain Lord Oakeshott,  the party's Treasury spokesman in the Lords, called the profits of shorting banks "dirty money" and said the Tories should return donations from hedgies who shorted Northern Rock.   

Mr Marshall has, of course, given large bundles of folding to the Lib Dems.  A bit of a contradiction then?   Not for the Lib Dems.   At Lib Dem Voice, Stephen Tall — a big cheese among yellow bloggers — explains that there's no reason for the party to decline money is considers "dirty".   His brilliantly-argued justification:

"Fundraising for political parties is difficult enough without declining money obtained perfectly legally."