Government ignoring law - Cameron

The Tory leader insisted ministers have been in power so long they have become indifferent to the laws they introduced themselves.

His comments came in a speech to business leaders as Westminster was gripped by a row over donations made to Labour by a wealthy backer through a series of middlemen.

The party's general secretary, Peter Watt, resigned on Monday night after admitting he knew about the arrangements enabling property developer David Abrahams to donate large sums without declaring his identity.

The Electoral Commission - to which Mr Abrahams' details should have been disclosed - has launched a formal investigation but declined to comment on reports on Tuesday morning that it had been in touch with Scotland Yard.

Mr Cameron, speaking to the annual conference of the Confederation of British Industry, said the last few days had shown "there's one law for government - and another one for everyone else".

He went on: "These people, they set up these quangos, they pass these laws, they introduce these regulations, they insist on this bit of scrutiny, that bit of compliance - and whether it's their own government debts or their own party machine, they just don't obey it.

"There is a time in the life of every government when they've been in power for so long that complacency tips over into arrogance, and arrogance even becomes indifference to the law.

"They've passed that point and change, real change, is needed now in Britain."