Return to: Home | Blogs | The Staggers

TheStaggers

The Staggers: Lord Ashcroft

The New Statesman rolling blog

Lord Ashcroft warns the Tories: stop banging on about Europe

Conservative donor warns that the Tories will lose the next election if they obsess over Europe.

Lord Ashcroft might rank somewhere between Margaret Thatcher and Rupert Murdoch in leftist demonology but, like it or not, his political analysis is usually spot-on. His elegant and passionately sane blog on ConservativeHome this morning is a perfect example. Ashcroft warns the Tories that they must, to quote David Cameron, stop "banging on about Europe" or risk losing the next election.

He writes:

Monday's display was damaging ... read more

Tags: Conservatives Lord Ashcroft Europe

3 comments

Cameron and Clegg at odds over Ashcroft appointment

Nick Clegg objected to the return of the man he denounced as “the Baron of Belize”.

With the help of his old friend William Hague, Lord Ashcroft is to return to politics, acting as a lead adviser to the government on its review of the UK's military bases in Cyprus. It's nearly a year since Ashcroft gave up his non-dom tax status in order to keep his seat in the House of Lords, but we can ... read more

Tags: Lord Ashcroft

7 comments

The people funding the Tory party: there are fewer of them than you think

New research shows that more than half of the party’s donations in the last decade came from just 50 donors.

You've heard of Michael Ashcroft – the billionaire who supposedly "owns" the Tory party – but what of Irvine Laidlaw or Michael Spencer?

Although he was targeted by the press because of his questionable tax status, Ashcroft has for many become synonymous with big cash donations and the influence that comes with it. But he is ... read more

Tags: Conservatives Lord Ashcroft

18 comments

Tories struggling in Lib Dem marginals

New figures suggest Lib Dems will hold on to almost all of the seats the Tories need to win.

The headline figures from the latest opinion polls may be fascinating but they are a poor guide to the likely outcome of the election. For a better understanding, we need to look at what is happening in the key Lib Dem-Tory marginals.

Thankfully, PoliticalBetting's Mike Smithson has published a subset of data from the latest Angus Reid poll which goes ... read more

Tags: David Cameron Lord Ashcroft Nick Clegg Election 2010

12 comments

Hague must resign over new Ashcroft revelations

The Tory shadow foreign secretary is unfit for office.

So, after the Tories attempted to divert attention away from the Ashcroft affair with a crude assault on the trade union movement, today they find themselves back under the spotlight.

Papers leaked to the BBC show that William Hague was consistently kept informed about the negotiations of Ashcroft's tax status and that he was "satisfied" with the final outcome in July 2000. All of which seems rather at odds ... read more

Tags: Lord Ashcroft

7 comments

There is no comparison between the trade unions and Michael Ashcroft

The bogus comparison between union donations and the Tory peer's millions.

In an attempt to divert attention away from the Ashcroft scandal, the Conservatives and their allies in the media are today attacking Labour's financial links with the trade union movement, most notably Unite.

It's no secret that Labour has become increasingly reliant on the trade unions for money as donations from rich commercial interests and individuals, who bankrolled the party throughout the Blair years, have dried up. I ... read more

Tags: Trade Unions Lord Ashcroft Unite Charlie Whelan

7 comments

William Hague: how long is a "few months"?

Compare the former Tory leader's statements on Michael Ashcroft, now and last month.

The latest instalment in the soap opera over Lord Ashcroft's tax status came last night when the former Conservative leader William Hague admitted on Radio 4's The World Tonight that he had only recently discovered the terms of the arrangement that allow Ashcroft to avoid paying full tax.

Asked whether Ashcroft's public statement on Monday was the "first he had known" of it, Hague said: "Well, I knew in advance ... read more

Tags: Lord Ashcroft William Hague

6 comments

The real reason Gove attacked Lord Ashcroft

Former Times columnist launched attack after Ashcroft sued the paper over drugs allegations.

Have a look at these sharp (and very funny) quotes about Lord Ashcroft:

"[T]he Tories, fatally, foolishly, put all their eggs in the Belize basket. They secured the short-term comfort of Mr Ashcroft's tax-sheltered millions, but have paid the price in credibility forgone."

"Mr Hague certainly has a well-developed sense of humour . . . You certainly do not emerge strengthened as an opponent of cronyism by expending what credibility you have ... read more

Tags: Lord Ashcroft

3 comments

The Ashcroft saga doesn't end here

The investigation into the Tory peer's company must conclude before the election.

After more than a decade of obfuscation, Lord Ashcroft has finally come out and admitted he's a non-dom. He did so through a statement on his website, designed to pre-empt the Cabinet Office's release of the promise he made regarding his tax status when he became a Conservative peer in 2000.

Here is the key passage:

As the letter shows, the undertakings I gave were confirmed in a memorandum to William ... read more

Tags: Lord Ashcroft

5 comments

Is Lord Ashcroft "non-domiciled"?

Conservative HQ smooths over Sir George Young's comments on Newsnight.

Does Lord Ashcroft pay tax in the UK?

It's a question that has posed a difficulty for senior Tories over the past few weeks, as they struggle to give a clear yes or no answer to journalists who, enthused by their obvious discomfort, harangue them about it at every opportunity.

And now it looks like Sir George Young, shadow leader of the House of Lords, may have inadvertently given us an answer ... read more

Tags: Conservatives Lord Ashcroft

1 comment

How to avoid a straight answer, in three easy steps

Senior Tories are still reluctant to clarify Lord Ashcroft's tax status.

Oh dear. The big question mark over Lord Ashcroft's tax status doesn't seem to be going away. With formal requests currently in motion for the big-time donor's status to be clarified, journalists have been pushing senior Tories for a straight answer.

The Information Commissioner has condemned their "evasive and obfuscatory" responses, but still the finely crafted answers that could be straight out of a political satire come thick and fast. ... read more

Tags: Conservatives Lord Ashcroft

Alastair Campbell -- overcome by emotion? Really?

It is difficult to take the former spin doctor's emotional outburst at face value.

Alastair Campbell showed his sensitive side on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show this morning, getting emotional as he denied that Tony Blair had misled parliament over claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

Marr asked the former communications director to clarify his answer to the question put to him at the Chilcot inquiry: if the original evidence did not support the view that there was clear and unambiguous ... read more

Tags: Alastair Campbell Iraq Inquiry Lord Ashcroft

22 comments

Most Popular

Osborne hoisted with his own petard

Love on the left

The turning of the tide

Rush to judgement

Salmond and Cameron resume their tug of war

Latest comments

An open letter to Eric Pickles

http://www.proxy4biz.com http://www.proxy4biz.com http://www.proxy4biz.com http://www.proxy4biz.com ===( http://www.proxy4biz.com )===...

From fdhgfdhJI, 15 February 04:05

Lansley fights another day as Cameron backs NHS reform

http://www.proxy4biz.com http://www.proxy4biz.com http://www.proxy4biz.com http://www.proxy4biz.com ===( http://www.proxy4biz.com )===...

From fdhgfdhJI, 15 February 04:05

Chart of the day: inflation plummets

http://www.proxy4biz.com http://www.proxy4biz.com http://www.proxy4biz.com http://www.proxy4biz.com ===( http://www.proxy4biz.com )===...

From fdhgfdhJI, 15 February 04:04

Elsewhere on the Blogosphere
Past Entries
Blogroll
NewStatesman

Newsletter!
Enter your email address here to receive updates from the team
chronicle of protest
Vote!

Can the UK achieve it’s commitment to carbon reduction targets by 2020?

Suggest a question

View comments

© New Statesman 1913 - 2010