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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| No 'secret' Ashcroft deal - Hague | No 'secret' Ashcroft deal - Hague |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Former Conservative leader William Hague has denied any "secret" deal was done over Lord Ashcroft's tax status. | Former Conservative leader William Hague has denied any "secret" deal was done over Lord Ashcroft's tax status. |
| The Tory donor was made a peer in 2000 after undertaking to become a permanent UK resident, which was widely believed to mean he would be a full UK taxpayer. | The Tory donor was made a peer in 2000 after undertaking to become a permanent UK resident, which was widely believed to mean he would be a full UK taxpayer. |
| But Mr Hague told the BBC leaked papers showed No 10 knew the agreed deal had not included the peer's tax status. | But Mr Hague told the BBC leaked papers showed No 10 knew the agreed deal had not included the peer's tax status. |
| He admitted it was a "mistake" to say the decision to be resident in the UK "would cost Lord Ashcroft millions". | He admitted it was a "mistake" to say the decision to be resident in the UK "would cost Lord Ashcroft millions". |
| The row over Lord Ashcroft's tax status and when the Conservative leadership knew he was not domiciled in the UK for tax purposes - a fact he acknowledged last month - has rumbled on for weeks. | The row over Lord Ashcroft's tax status and when the Conservative leadership knew he was not domiciled in the UK for tax purposes - a fact he acknowledged last month - has rumbled on for weeks. |
| Mr Hague, who nominated Lord Ashcroft for a peerage when he was Tory leader, said the documents "vindicated" his argument that Lord Ashcroft had abided by the undertakings he had given at the time and that No 10 had known this was the case. | Mr Hague, who nominated Lord Ashcroft for a peerage when he was Tory leader, said the documents "vindicated" his argument that Lord Ashcroft had abided by the undertakings he had given at the time and that No 10 had known this was the case. |
| "The idea that this was a secret Tory deal for Lord Ashcroft to avoid whatever people thought he should have paid is rather blown apart by the knowledge this was all copied to Downing Street," he told BBC Radio 4's Today. | "The idea that this was a secret Tory deal for Lord Ashcroft to avoid whatever people thought he should have paid is rather blown apart by the knowledge this was all copied to Downing Street," he told BBC Radio 4's Today. |
| But Mr Hague added: "The one thing I will concede on this - and which I think in retrospect was a mistake - was to say tens of millions because it may have cost him millions. We don't know, it may cost him millions into the future. | But Mr Hague added: "The one thing I will concede on this - and which I think in retrospect was a mistake - was to say tens of millions because it may have cost him millions. We don't know, it may cost him millions into the future. |
| "None of us can know - other than him, I suppose, and the tax authorities - what it has cost. | "None of us can know - other than him, I suppose, and the tax authorities - what it has cost. |
| "But it was certainly an important change for him to go from being not resident in the UK." | "But it was certainly an important change for him to go from being not resident in the UK." |
| Mr Hague's comments came ahead of a Commons hearing by the Public Administration Committee into the arrangements and undertakings surrounding Lord Ashcroft's peerage. | |
| The Conservatives are boycotting the hearing and have protested to the chairman of the committee over what they say is a "partisan" inquiry. |