Nathaniel Rothschild offered oligarch's cash, says Tory chief Lord Feldman Lord Feldman told the High Court yesterday that in August 2008 he and George Osborne, then shadow chancellor, attended a reception at a villa in Corfu owned by the Rothschild family. He said Mr Rothschild told him that Oleg Deripaska, a Russian aluminium magnate, was interested in making a donation to the party. Lord Feldman said he told Mr Rothschild that donors had to appear on the UK electoral roll or the funds had to come from a legitimate UK business. He added: "At no point did Mr Osborne nor I solicit or ask for a donation, suggest ways of channelling a donation or express any wish to meet with Mr Deripaska to discuss donations." This version of events directly contradicted that of Mr Rothschild, who, in a letter to The Times in October 2008, claimed it was Lord Feldman who raised the possibility of Mr Deripaska channelling a donation to the Conservatives through one of his British companies. Mr Rothschild said the oligarch had declined. Under cross-examination by Hugh Tomlinson QC, representing Mr Rothschild, Lord Feldman accepted that he and the financier had different recollections of the events which they both stood by. He accepted that it was possible a conversation had taken place on board the yacht regarding the donation to which he had not been a party. The disclosures were made in the High Court, where Mr Rothschild is suing the Daily Mail over an article claiming he smoothed a £500 million business deal for Mr Deripaska. Lord Feldman said he was on holiday when he and Mr Osborne accepted an invitation to join Mr Deripaska on his yacht. He told the court: "We stayed on the boat for about an hour. There was no mention of party funding or the possibility of Mr Deripaska making a donation to the Conservative Party. In a telephone conversation three weeks later in which they had discussed hosting a fund-raising dinner for the Conservative Party, Lord Feldman said Mr Rothschild had mentioned that Leyland DAF, one of Mr Deripaska's companies, was interested in donating to the party. Lord Feldman added: "I said that I was not sure if such a donation was appropriate. I told Mr Rothschild I would have to seek advice. It was decided after consulting senior party officials that it would not be appropriate.