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| Version 6 | Version 7 |
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| No 'secret' Ashcroft deal - Hague | No 'secret' Ashcroft deal - Hague |
| (about 1 hour 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 had been a "mistake" to say the agreement "would cost Lord Ashcroft millions" in extra tax. | He admitted it had been a "mistake" to say the agreement "would cost Lord Ashcroft millions" in extra tax. |
| "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," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. | "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," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. |
| "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." |
| Long-running row | |
| There has been a long-running row over Lord Ashcroft's tax status, focusing in recent weeks on when the Conservative leadership knew he was not domiciled in the UK for tax purposes after he acknowledged being a "non dom" last month. | |
| LORD ASHCROFT A businessman once described as the "boss" of Caribbean tax haven Belize, Michael Ashcroft has pumped millions into the Tory Party since 1998. Has become deputy party chairman and runs crucial unit targeting marginal seats.It had been thought he pledged to become full UK taxpayer as a condition of becoming a Lord in 2000, but he and Tory politicians have always refused to clarify whether he had done so.Last month Lord Ashcroft finally cleared the issue by admitting he did not pay tax in the UK on most of his non-UK earnings, but said the undertaking agreed at the time of becoming a Lord was to be a "long term resident", and he had complied with that.Leaked cabinet office papers appear to confirm that the deal done over his peerage did not include his tax status. | |
| 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. | 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. |
| "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. |
| Critics say the Conservatives failed to answer repeated questions about Lord Ashcroft's tax status over the past decade but Mr Hague defended the answers he gave when asked over the years about the issue. | |
| "I said he was meeting the obligations placed on him. As you can see from these documents, everybody agreed that he was doing that, that it met the terms of the original undertakings." | |
| Mr Hague said Lord Ashcroft had only told him he was a non-dom "around the turn of the year" and that he subsequently went on to "explain" his position to David Cameron and announce it publicly. | |
| "You could argue that that should all have been done earlier. OK, you can argue that. But we have done all of that." | |
| 'Backbone' | 'Backbone' |
| 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. | 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. | The Conservatives are boycotting the hearing and have protested to the chairman of the committee over what they say is a "partisan" inquiry. |
| Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said the leaked document showed William Hague and Tory leader David Cameron had been "economical with the truth" and had not had "the courage to stand up to Lord Ashcroft" over his tax status. | Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said the leaked document showed William Hague and Tory leader David Cameron had been "economical with the truth" and had not had "the courage to stand up to Lord Ashcroft" over his tax status. |
| FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programme | |
| The Labour peer told Sky News: "I don't know what sort of hold Lord Ashcroft has over David Cameron that he could not find the backbone, the bottle, to ask the relevant questions. In my view, that says rather a lot about David Cameron." | The Labour peer told Sky News: "I don't know what sort of hold Lord Ashcroft has over David Cameron that he could not find the backbone, the bottle, to ask the relevant questions. In my view, that says rather a lot about David Cameron." |
| And the Lib Dems, who claim that Lord Ashcroft owes more than £100m in unpaid tax, said the Tories had treated the public "with total contempt" over the issue. | |
| "William Hague promised the prime minister that before Lord Ashcroft received his peerage he would pay "tens of millions" in British tax, but then never even checked whether the promise was kept," the party's home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said. | |
| "It is utterly unbelievable to say, as William Hague did this morning, that he was not aware of the tax implications of these negotiations that dragged on for four months when he was kept informed by his closest loyalist, the chief whip. | |
| Lord Ashcroft has pumped millions of pounds of his own money into the Conservative Party over the years and in 2005 was made its deputy chairman, with responsibility for targeting marginal seats at the general election. | Lord Ashcroft has pumped millions of pounds of his own money into the Conservative Party over the years and in 2005 was made its deputy chairman, with responsibility for targeting marginal seats at the general election. |