|
|
 |
Page created 5th
Mar 2010
Tax avoiding Conservative financier Lord Ashcroft forced
out of the shadows, Julian Ware-Lane calls for local Tories to come clean.
Conservative
Deputy Chairman, Lord Ashcroft, the man bankrolling the Conservatives, has finally been forced out of the shadows.
For ten years, William Hague, Michael Howard and David Cameron have each concealed the truth about his status.
By his own admission, Lord Ashcroft has given millions to the Conservatives and may be the largest single donor
of all time.
In 1999, when Conservative leader at the time William Hague first recommended Lord Ashcroft for
a Peerage, he was rejected.
It was only in 2000, after he promised to return to live in Britain and pay tax here, that
the House of Lords allowed him to become a member.
This week we found out that was a promise he never kept.
His company, Bearwood
Corporate Services, is at the centre of a major investigation by the Electoral Commission. Reacting to this news, Julian Ware-Lane
said: “Instead of paying tens of millions of pounds in tax - money that could have helped pay for schools and hospitals
- Lord Ashcroft has chose to spend the money on David Cameron's campaign.
“Instead
of paying fair taxes, like everyone else has to in Castle Point, he has been channelling millions into the Conservative Party
to help them buy this election.
So next time people in Castle Point see glossy Conservative leaflets or letters, they
have a right to feel these expensive Tory campaigns have come at the cost of a new school or a new hospital wing in south
east Essex.
“I have three very simple questions for the Conservatives in Castle Point in relation to Lord
Ashcroft: Was David Cameron right to conceal the truth about Lord Ashcroft’s status? Will they pay back any money they
got from him directly or indirectly? And will they rule out any future donations from him or his companies?
“I can't
rely on the millions of Lord Ashcroft's money. But I can promise you that I will fight this election
on the issues that matter. I won’t allow my fight for a fair future for people in Castle Point to
be bought off by a billionaire from Belize.
“This is precisely what you'd expect from the old Tory party of
the 80s and 90s. It just goes to show that rather than having really changed his party, David Cameron has kept it as it was.
David Cameron has said he has changed his party.
Lord Ashcroft showed how little they've
changed. They're just the same old Tories.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|