Scottish Labour has broken the law by failing to declare cash donations from a trade union.

Officials in the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency of Jack McConnell, the first minister, did not declare a £375 quarterly payment, amounting to £1500 a year, from the ISTC development fund.

In a television interview last night, Jack McConnell said: "I will always put the law before the Labour Party...I take an absolute responsibility for what happens in the Labour Party. It is a shocking situation."