Levy claims Mr Brown had to know about the donations

Levy: Brown knew about cash-for-honours

Levy: Brown knew about cash-for-honours

It is “inconceivable” Gordon Brown knew nothing about the loans at the centre of the cash-for-peerages scandal, Lord Levy, Labour’s former fund-raiser, has said.

Downing Street has reacted furiously to the claims, with an aide to the prime minister dismissing the comments as “complete, unsubstantiated garbage”.

“Gordon Brown knew nothing whatsoever about these loans,” they continued.

The accusation follows Lord Levy’s previous outburst earlier this month in which he said Tony Blair did not believe Gordon Brown could win the next election.

The prime minister is trying to regain the political initiative today after his disastrous local election results and the ensuing doom-laden media coverage, with a speech on social care. But the drip feed of political revelation to the media produced by the memoirs of Lord Levi, Cherie Blair and former prime minister John Prescott are turning the headlines against him.