Brown makes his stand

When Nick Robinson dropped the bombshell on the Today Programme that Jon Mendelsohn had known about how David Abrahams was funnelling money to the Labour party, I assumed that—if this was true—Mendelsohn would be gone by PMQs. But he’s still there tonight.

Mendelsohn’s has stated that he was aware of what was going on, he was uncomfortable with it but that he was assured that it was legal. What you think now comes down to the question of whether or not you think that Mendelsohn had a duty to seek the opinion of a lawyer about whether this highly unusual arrangement was illegal, which it is.

Gordon Brown has decided to tie himself to Mendelson; his continuing role with the Labour party is evidence that Brown tacitly endorses his behaviour. Brown’s chance of regaining his political footing depend in large part on how the public and any investigation come to judge Mendelson’s behaviour.