Conservative Party
Labour have slipped into joint second place just six months since their landslide victory.
The former Conservative chairman was given short shrift by a Labour minister.
Angela Rayner has promised tenants will no longer have to pay these "eye-watering upfront costs".
The Sky News presenter asked: "Do you accept that, all factors considered, the economic inheritance was not good?"
Labour are now just one point clear of Nigel Farage's party, according to a YouGov poll.
But a campaigner said the explanation is "very thin, inadequate and lacking in evidence".
MPs voted down the Tories' proposal to launch a fresh inquiry last night - but the issue is not likely to go away.
The government had said the move would wreck its Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
The opportunity to donate to the party was contained in an email from Kemi Badenoch.
"I thought there wasn't a limit to how far they would sink. I was wrong," Bridget Phillipson said.