Anthony Painter

How David Cameron would love the Lord Ashcroft story to just move on. And it just won’t. The Times and Guardian responded to the Leader of the Opposition’s desperate desire close this down by putting the story on their front page. The Times editorialises:

“With an election mere weeks away, even Lord Ashcroft must realise that he has served his party as much as he can. Mr Cameron should thank him for this service, and ask him to return to the private life that he so clearly craves.”

What was really interesting was the apparent operation that swung into action as soon as the Lord Ashcroft story broke (and this could have been completely spontaneous but I have my doubts….) On Monday, Iain Dale posted this blog trying to muddy the waters and say everyone’s at it. What was really remarkable was how often the same words appear across the web from Monday onwards.* Follow this Google search to see:

Ashcroft rebuttal Google search

But the argument of the Dale blog misses the point. Does it make it OK because there are Labour non-doms also? As it happens, no, I don’t think it does. Long-term resident but non-dom tax status should at the very least prevent you from serving in Parliament. Donations are a slightly different matter and there is more debate to be had there. If someone was earning a significant amount in the UK on which they were paying tax but were also non-dom taxpayers then should they be barred from making party donations? That’s a very tricky call to make and I’m not sure there’s a blanket rule that can be applied- it’s a case by case issue and rather depends on how much UK tax you are paying.

I’m not going to add my thoughts on the developing story of Lord Ashcroft, David Cameron, and William Hague. Others such as Sunder at Next Left and Left Foot Forward are on the case as is the Guardian and The Times. It seems very clear that he broke the spirit though perhaps not the letter of undertakings he made upon becoming a peer. His influence on British politics over the last decade or so makes a mockery of British democracy. But how to respond? Well, as the image above suggests, the right strategy is don’t get mad, get even. There are three ways  you can act to even things up a bit:

1. Join John Slinger’s Facebook group on Lord Ashcroft.

2. Sign John’s e-petition on the peer.

3. Make a donation to the Labour party so that they can start to level the playing field in marginal constituencies.

I’ve done all three this morning.

* I’m not in any way suggesting that Iain is in any way linked to this.