Lurid allegations surface as Ashcroft’s ‘beef’ with David Cameron is laid bare
Billionaire peer Lord Ashcroft’s new book, Call Me Dave, is being serialised in the Daily Mail - including damning allegations.
Downing Street has declined to comment on the claims, which include details of an initiation ceremony during Mr Cameron’s Oxford student days involving a dead pig.
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Hide AdIt is claimed that the future PM “inserted a private part of his anatomy” into the animal’s mouth at a Piers Gaveston event.
The claims have led to a Twitter storm, with #piggate trending on the social media site. The furore is likely to cast a shadow over the Conservatives’ upcoming annual conference in Manchester.
Sources close to Mr Cameron said they “did not recognise” the accusations, which include claims that Mr Cameron was part of a decadent Oxford University dining society and was present at events where drugs were taken.
In the book, due to be published next month, Lord Ashcroft says he has a personal “beef” with the Prime Minister after his failure to offer him a significant job in his administration following the formation of the coalition government in 2010.
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Hide AdHe claimed the PM initially blamed Liberal Democrat coalition partners for blocking his appointment, before offering him a junior role at the Foreign Office which the peer described as “declinable”, adding: “It would have been better had Cameron offered me nothing at all.”
Ennobled by William Hague in 2000 after saving the party financially as treasurer in the wake of its disastrous 1997 election defeat, Lord Ashcroft has given around £8 million to the Tories and was deputy chairman during Mr Cameron’s period as leader in opposition.
In his book, Lord Ashcroft claims that as early as 2009 he spoke with Mr Cameron about how to delay revealing his “non-dom” tax status until after the following year’s election.
This contradicts a Conservative assertion at the time when the controversial status became known in 2010 that Mr Cameron had been told only a month before.
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Hide AdLord Ashcroft later gave up his non-dom position, which allowed him to avoid tax on overseas earnings, in order to retain his place on the Conservative benches in the Lords.
He wrote a highly-critical report on Mr Cameron’s handling of the 2010 election campaign and eventually retired his parliamentary seat ahead of this year’s general election.
He has remained highly active in the political world as an opinion pollster and commentator.
Asked about Lord Ashcroft’s allegations at a press conference during his visit to China, Chancellor George Osborne said only: “I haven’t seen that book.”
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Hide AdLiberal Democrat leader Tim Farron told Sky News that the allegations were “extraordinary claims” but they were “a bit of a sideshow”.
He said: “The reality is we respect people’s right to a private life and a past. The critical thing in all of this is that those of us who are in politics mustn’t be hypocrites.”