Enron questions in Britain

Prime Minister Tony Blair at Labour's 2001 conference; Enron paid $20,000 for a reception at the 1998 party conference

By CNN's Jim Boulden

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Questions surrounding the influence of the once-powerful oil company Enron have reached Britain.

Opposition politicians say Britain's Labour Party had strong ties with Enron and has even stronger ties with its accounting firm, Andersen.

Among the questions they want answered: Did the now-bankrupt energy trader give financial support to Labour after it came power in 1997, and did that help change government policy?

Opposition parties are calling for disclosure. "Well, there's certainly an interesting coincidence, isn't there?" says Conservative Party spokesman Tim Collins.

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"It would seem that around the time that Enron made a significant donation to the governing Labour Party in Britain, government policy was changed to allow Enron to build a gas-fired power station, which previously it wouldn't have been allowed to build.

"That is something that raises some quite serious question marks. That's why we're calling, in Britain, for a full inquiry."

The Labour Party declined to be interviewed on camera but denies that there was any influence, telling CNN that Enron did not donate one penny to the party.

But Enron Europe did buy tables at various Labour Party functions and did pay $20,000 for one conference reception, for a total of some $50,000.

Britain's other major opposition party says it's more concerned about Labour's relationship with Andersen, Enron's accountancy firm.

"The relationship is extremely close, clearly both have benefited from each other," says Matthew Taylor, spokesman for the Liberal Democrats.

"The question is whether anything improper has happened in the process. We don't know that, but the book should be opened so that this is all, the public can see what is going on and any questions about that can be properly answered."

Andersen says it does a relatively small amount of work for the UK government but won't say how much its current contracts are worth.

It does stress, however, that any suggestion that is has an unusually close relationship with the Labour Party is unfounded.

That's something Labour's opponents want to explore further.