In a letter to tonight's Evening Standard Zac Goldsmith has hit back at the double hits that have unsettled his campaign to defeat Susan Kramer in Richmond Park.
The full text of his letter is below (our emphasis on the best line):
"Politics has been reduced to a game. Rivals are smeared, voters misled, and Parliament has too many careerists for whom winning votes is an end in itself. At the next election, I will be standing against an MP who has toed the party line an astonishing 99.2 per cent of the time.
Now, as a threat to this marginal Lib-Dem seat, I have become the target of an extraordinary smear campaign. I want to put the record straight.
The Lib-Dems claimed I avoided “millions” in tax because of my former non-dom status, which, despite reports, I relinquished before being approached by anyone. In fact, I have always chosen to be tax resident in the UK. My father created a trust that provides me with an income. It almost all comes to the UK where it is taxed at the full 40 per cent rate.Their idea that trust ownership of my home leaves the taxman short makes no sense. When a primary home is sold, there is no Capital Gains Tax to pay. Not so the trust-owned home I occupy, if it is sold for a gain.
The latest claim is that I’ve injected £260,000 into my political campaign. In fact, I have merely registered the notional use of my office and two staff over nearly three years.
Life dealt me a generous hand; I chose to devote it to campaigning for what I believe in. I will continue to do so."
- Zac Goldsmith, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Richmond Park and North Kingston."
Hat tip to Paul Waugh.