[Image]Was UK tax paid on Tory Party election campaign funds? Poster by Go Fourth
At last New Labour takes the axe to the Tory Party and about time too! From The Guardian :
Mandelson calls for inquiry over Lord Ashcroft tax promises.
Business secretary is the most senior member of government to call for inquiry into non-dom Tory peer. (Lord Ashcroft admitted yesterday that he was a 'non-dom' who did not pay tax in Britain on his overseas earnings.)
Lord Mandelson has called for an inquiry to establish whether Lord Ashcroft broke the promises he made when he was ennobled in 2000 to become a full UK taxpayer.The business secretary wrote to Lord Jay, chair of the House of Lords appointments commission, last night urging him to investigate Ashcroft's claims he had fulfilled his promise to become a UK resident after the government confirmed becoming a "long-term" resident instead of a "permanent" resident would suffice.Mandelson is the most senior member of the government to call for an inquiry into the peer.The Conservative leadership faced fresh demands last night to reveal what they knew about the tax status of Ashcroft after the billionaire Tory donor admitted he was a non-dom who did not pay tax in Britain on his substantial international earnings.Ashcroft and the Tories have refused to answer questions about when he fulfilled the less onerous task of declaring himself a long-term resident, which allowed him to continue to be a non-dom paying tax only on his UK earnings and avoiding giving tens of millions to the tax office on his substantial international estate.The Guardian put seven questions to Tory central office about its deputy chairman, asking what David Cameron and Hague knew about Ashcroft's financial arrangements. The leadership refused to answer any of them.Ashcroft's admission yesterday broke a 10-year silence and appeared to show he had reneged on a "solemn and binding" promise to the then Tory leader, William Hague, that he would become a permanent UK resident in return for his peerage.Mandelson said the category "long-term" resident had only existed in tax law since 2008 and therefore the peer could not have fulfilled the promise in 2000, when he took up his seat in the House of Lords.Mandelson's letter, released this morning, said: "I am writing to ask you – in the public interest – to shine a light on this issue and to investigate whether Lord Ashcroft is currently satisfying the conditions that he was required to meet in order to be appointed to the House of Lords."He mentions the "solemn and binding" undertaking Ashcroft made in 2000 to William Hague to become a "permanent resident" of the UK that year and Ashcroft's unsubstantiated claim that the government later confirmed this could mean he becomes a "long-term" resident."However this cannot be the condition he was required to meet in 2000," Lord Mandelson writes, "because the 'long term resident' rule was only introduced in April 2008 – eight years after he made his promise."A spokesperson for the appointments commission said this morning it had no powers for retrospective investigations. The commission was established after Ashcroft was ennobled, replacing the political honours scrutiny committee that originally vetted his application, suggesting any inquiry would have to be independent.The spokesperson said: "The commission received Lord Mandelson's letter yesterday evening and will consider it. The vetting of Lord Ashcroft, however, took place before the commission was established in 2000 and the commission has no documentation on this case and no retrospective powers to investigate. The commission will now only vet individuals who are already resident in the UK for tax purposes and commit to remaining so."The rules were changed in 2005 to ensure all new peers paid full tax and strengthened in 2008 to force them to commit to permanently paying UK tax on all their earnings.Jack Straw, the justice secretary, said yesterday: "He was only granted his peerage on the basis he would return to live in the UK, become fully resident, and pay tax in the UK on his wider income. Lord Ashcroft has been forced to admit that he has not complied with this promise and that for the last 10 years the Conservatives have been concealing the truth. Instead of paying tax in the UK on all his earned income, he has been channelling millions into the Conservative party to help them buy this election."In a statement published shortly before the disclosure of material as a result of freedom of information requests, Ashcroft indicated he would relinquish his non-dom status in line with new Tory policy to remain in the Lords. A spokesman for Ashcroft insisted the peer had fulfilled his promises to become resident in order to take up his peerage. "[He] has never broken a promise and he has never gone back on an undertaking," he said.Gordon Prentice, the Labour MP whose FoI request prompted the statement, said Ashcroft should be stripped of his peerage, while Lord Oakeshott, the Liberal Democrat frontbencher who has campaigned against non-doms in parliament, said he should step down.The former Labour minister Denis MacShane added: "Some kind of full inquiry is needed to account for the missing years of Ashcroft's tax affairs when he was dictating the course of this election."Cameron said: "I have always taken the view that someone's tax status is a matter between them and the Revenue and I've answered that question many times, but I'm delighted that Lord Ashcroft has made these statements and has answered these questions, so I think that now we can get on with the election."He attempted to turn the spotlight on the Labour peers who are self-confessed non-doms, including Lord Paul, who was also recently appointed to the privy council by Gordon Brown.And the question that still needs to be asked: Was UK tax paid on Tory Party election funds donated by Lord Ashcroft?
See our other article on Tory Party funds now taken up by other media outlets lower down this page.
Link:Michael Anthony Ashcroft, Baron Ashcroft, KCMG, - Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party - Wikipedia Link: The non-doms can stump up - Morning Star Link: The Guardian
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