Clare Short has sat in moral judgement over a cash gift to Labour from Express owner and soft-porn publisher Richard Desmond.

Appearing on the BBC Question Time programme, the international development secretary directly contradicted Labour's chairman, Charles Clarke, with her revelation that a Millbank's ethics committee set up to scrutinise donations had followed "embarrassment" over a series of funding rows.

Asked whether Desmond's cash gift of £100,000 should have been accepted, Short said "No".

"I do think ... the committee's been established because of the embarrassment over that affair," she continued.

The one-time campaigner for a ban on "Page Three" girls also dismissed claims by Northern Ireland secretary, Dr John Reid, that donations should not be rejected on moral grounds.

"Every human being should sit in moral judgement on absolutely everything they do," she argued.

However, Short also expressed her opposition to the state funding of political parties.

"I agree with whoever said we cannot ask the public who are feeling disgruntled with politics and politicians to pay for it," she said.

"We have got to try to reduce what we spend on politics and keep our politics as clean as possible. I think this committee has been established to try to be more ethical about what the Labour Party accepts.

"We are in a dilemma here. We have opened it up and now everyone thinks everything we do is absolutely grotty - and it's not - but we will have to go on and do better."