Tories 'snubbed Ashcroft inquiry'

The Conservative Party refused to allow its staff to be interviewed as part of an inquiry into donations from its non-domiciled deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft, the elections watchdog claimed yesterday.

While the Tories strongly refuted the suggestion, the Electoral Commission maintained that its "protracted" attempts to secure permission had been fruitless.

The row over what Labour portrayed as a Tory "cover-up" came as the watchdog ruled that 5.1m of donations to the Tories from Bearwood Corporate Services (BCS), a firm owned by Lord Ashcroft, had been permissible.

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However, the commission has asked to meet Conservative officials to ensure that they are clear about their responsibilities for complying with the law.

It said it had not had direct access to Tory officers and staff during its 18-month inquiry.

Commission chairman Jenny Watson said she was "disappointed" but that her organisation had no legal powers to force the issue.

In a further development, Tory leader David Cameron came under fresh pressure as it emerged he had only recently learned about Lord Ashcroft's controversial tax status.

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And an influential Commons committee announced it would be holding a one-day inquiry into the award of Lord Ashcroft's peerage, promising further scrutiny of the affair as a General Election looms.

Labour MP John Mann, whose complaint to the Electoral Commission prompted its investigation, said yesterday's report by the watchdog posed more questions than it answered.

"Insufficient evidence is a theme of this report, and one of the reasons for insufficient evidence, which is quite extraordinary, is that David Cameron's top officials wouldn't co-operate with it, they wouldn't meet," he said. "Same old Tories – so much for transparency and openness.

"Here we have the public body that monitors political parties and senior Conservative officials refused to meet them to answer questions."

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Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne described the Tories' alleged refusal to submit to interviews as "extraordinary".

"It's the equivalent of a criminal suspect asking a police officer whether their work is really necessary," he said.

The Tories said they "absolutely" refuted the claim, accusing the commission of failing to reply to a "polite" request to explain why the interviews were necessary.

But, in a later statement, the Electoral Commission insisted it had first made requests in November last year and there had been "protracted correspondence" into December, when "the party were still unwilling to agree to our requests for interviews".

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As the row unfolded, Shadow Defence Secretary Liam Fox disclosed that Mr Cameron had only learnt Lord Ashcroft was non-domiciled for tax purposes within the past month.

Lord Ashcroft revealed this week he did not pay UK tax on his extensive overseas earnings, apparently at odds with Tory assurances when he was given a seat in the Lords.

As party leader in 2000, William Hague gave assurances Michael Ashcroft would pay "tens of millions" more in tax as a condition of being granted a peerage.

But Lord Ashcroft said this week he subsequently struck a deal with officials that allowed him to avoid paying full UK tax.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said the disclosure about Mr Cameron's knowledge of the affair was "astonishing".