Gordon Prentice moves the earth

Hats off to Gordon Prentice MP.

I sit next to him on the backbenches and on our Select Committee. With enviable persistence he has raised the scandal of Lord Ashcroft's £millions donations to the Tory Party.  

After more than three years the Information Commissioner has answered Gordon's FOI complaint with a report that could rock the foundations of politics. The Conservative leadership is  accused of being "evasive and obfuscatory" over the tax status of Lord Ashcroft, the party's deputy chairman and biggest donor.

In an unprecedentedly tough recommendation, the Cabinet Office has been ordered to reveal within 35 days the nature of the undertaking Ashcroft made to become domiciled in the UK when he became a peer in 2000. 

Ashcroft made a promise to become a permanent resident of the UK as a condition of his ennoblement in 2000, a year after he was rejected as a member of the Lords by the political honours scrutiny committee, a rejection he believed was partly based on his residency at the time.

But successive Conservative leaders have since refused to reveal whether he has fulfilled that promise and taken up UK residency. The Cabinet Office, which oversees the peerage system, has declined to reveal what his undertaking involved, citing Ashcroft's privacy and clauses in the Freedom of Information Act that exempt the honours system from scrutiny.

The ruling by the commissioner, Christopher Graham, overturns that opinion, claiming the public interest in Ashcroft,  and the system of awarding peerages outweighs his individual right to privacy, and the need to keep the honours system confidential in this case.

But it goes further, criticising the secrecy about Ashcroft's position. The ruling says: "Since Lord Ashcroft's ennoblement, the question of where he lives has continued to be raised, leading to speculation that Lord Ashcroft has not satisfied the undertaking he gave. Statements by senior politicians concerning Lord Ashcroft's undertaking have been evasive and obfuscatory and have served to compound this speculation.

"Lord Ashcroft could have ended the speculation about his residency by making a public statement to that effect. He has chosen not to do this. He has furthered the speculation by stating that it is a private matter and, as stated on his website, 'If home is where the heart is Belize is my home'.

The ruling is threatening news for William Hague. Ashcroft has attended a series of important meetings abroad with the shadow foreign secretary. Hague. Ashcroft has funded and masterminded the battle in key marginal seats across the country including Gordon Prentice's Pendle constituency.

The Commissioner concluded his report by ordering the Cabinet Office to reveal the details of Ashcroft's undertaking within 35 days. It can appeal within 25 days. A spokesman said the Cabinet Office "will respond in due course".

Ashcroft has repeatedly refused to clarify his tax status in Britain and is separately subject to an Electoral Commission investigation into claims that millions of pounds of his donations to the Conservatives, made through his company Bearwood Corporate Services, were in breach of electoral law. The allegation is that the company was not "carrying on business" in Britain and therefore not eligible to donate.

Gordon made a great speech last in the Commons. In a shamefaul act, the Government and the Tories colluded on a cover-up. The reforms that were pass are not retrospective. Past sine by Tory funders, and possibly Labour ones, will never be published.

No wonder Gordon is hopping mad. But the battle is not over. 35 days is a short time in politics.

Comments

[Kay Tie]

Does it occur to you that the Tories might be leading you up the garden path on this? To say that Labour MPs are obsessed is putting it mildly. You're going to look very foolish if it turns out to be a non-issue.

I have to say, throwing stones when you live in glass houses (particularly over union donations, using recycled tax-payer money) is very dangerous. You give excellent cover for strict donation reform under a new government, which will chop Labour's funding off at the knees.

By all means throw the stones: I think Labour has outlived its purpose and deserves to die. I'll bake a celebration cake when it goes bust.

[patrick]

Kay-Tie
"I'll bake a celebration cake when it goes bust."

No doubt you'll be baking a cake for Ashcroft also!

Top-Tip
Avoid expensive and fancy cake ingredients by simply mixing flour ,eggs , and marg with a liberal sprinkling of cyanide!

[Kay Tie]

"No doubt you'll be baking a cake for Ashcroft also!"

Might warrant a cupcake. But Ashcroft is small beer compared to the corrupt funding antics of Labour (or don't you remember Bernie Eccleston and Tony "I'm a straight kind of guy" Blair?).

"mixing flour ,eggs , and marg with a liberal sprinkling of cyanide!"

If I were married to you I'd eat it too!

[Patrick]

"If I were married to you I'd eat it too!"

Gladly only a hypothesis ,besides , i would never of had enough money!

[Kay Tie]

"Gladly only a hypothesis ,besides , i would never of had enough money!"

Ah, one should never marry for money.

[DG]

Do tax breaks count?