Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has become the second cabinet minister to criticise Labour's decision to take money from adult magazine publisher Richard Desmond.

The party had undermined its stance on equality between men and women by accepting �100,000 from Mr Desmond, suggested Ms Jowell.

The world's got to move on; you either talk equality or you act equality

Tessa Jowell Culture Secretary

A Labour MP has said many backbenchers want the money returned to Mr Desmond, who owns Express newspapers as well as magazines like Asian Babes and Horny Housewives.

International Development Secretary Clare Short has already argued Labour was wrong to accept the donation, which has been defended by Tony Blair.

The comments from Ms Jowell, who has responsibility for regulating the media, came in an interview with Friday's Financial Times newspaper.

"I don't feel comfortable that the party accepts a donation from somebody who earns certainly part of his income from pornography."

State funding questions

"The world's got to move on; you either talk equality or you act equality," she added.

Ms Jowell suggested the Desmond controversy had sparked Labour's decision to establish a new committee to vet future donations.

"It's opened up the whole question of the state funding of political parties," she said.

Some opposition MPs have questioned whether there was a link between the donation and the government's decision to allow Mr Desmond to buy Express Newspapers.

Tessa Jowell usually takes a loyal Labour line

Former Transport Secretary Stephen Byers published the Office of Fair Trading's report on the issue to show he was only acting on advice.

But Conservative frontbencher Nigel Waterson argued the OFT left "non-competition" issues, such as whether Mr Desmond was fit to own the papers, to ministers to decide.

Any link between the donation and the decision was dismissed by Ms Jowell.

She told the FT: "There is a very clear separation between Labour Party donations and government policy."

'Not all corrupt'

Ms Short became the first cabinet minister to break cover and criticise the donation on BBC One's Question Time last week, saying she "hated pornography".

But she said the media were wrong to suggest there was corruption in all gifts.

Labour MP Bob Marshall-Andrews on Friday said he would like the donation given back to Mr Desmond, a belief he thought was shared by many of his colleagues.

Tony Blair has defended the Desmond donation

"That's not being censorious or priggish - I hope I am neither," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"But you really do have to exercise a measure of judgement when you are receiving political donations.

"There are activities in this world that are perfectly legal but nonetheless cause offence to large numbers of perfectly decent and respectable people."

Those calls were backed by Lib Dem trade spokesman Vince Cable, who said the whole episode showed the need for a "radical overhaul" of party funding.

Labour has denied that the establishment of its new committee to vet donations was prompted by the Desmond affair.

The move was designed to cut out the "innuendo" which has surrounded recent donations but denies any past wrongdoing, says the party.

Labour chairman Charles Clarke has declined to say whether the committee would have accepted Mr Desmond donations.

Blair's defence

"The most important moral standard is that people should not expect that in giving money to the Labour Party they are getting some favour in return," said Mr Clarke.

In a Newsnight interview this month Mr Blair said he was not familiar with the content of the magazines owned by Mr Desmond's Northern and Shell company.

But if someone was fit to own one of Britain's biggest newspaper groups, there was no reason why Labour should not take their money, he said.

The prime minister said he would love not to have raise any more money for his party.

But he did not think there was the political consensus or public support for state funding for parties.