It's Alan Johnson Who is UnpatrioticIain Dale 7:04 PMDisgusting. Alan Johnson belied his 'nice man' reputation today by saying that Michael Ashcroft is "basically unpatriotic because he has remained a non dom." I'm sure loyal Labour donors Paul, Cohen and Mittal will like being called "unpatriotic" by a man they are donating money to re-elect. But that's not my main point. I'll take note of Alan Johnson's comments when he has proved his own patriotism. I'm not even going to mention the ways in which his own government sells British interests at every available opportunity. That would be like kicking a kitten. No, Mr Johnson. When you've raised millions of pounds for CrimeStoppers, when you've donated your collection of VCs to the nation, when you've given huge amounts of money to Help for Heroes, and countless other charities then I'll listen to you talk about patriotism. Michael Ashcroft has done all those things. To label him 'unpatriotic' is a sick joke by a man who ought to know better.

It's Alan Johnson Who is Unpatriotic

Iain Dale 7:04 PM

Disgusting. Alan Johnson belied his 'nice man' reputation today by saying that Michael Ashcroft is "basically unpatriotic because he has remained a non dom." I'm sure loyal Labour donors Paul, Cohen and Mittal will like being called "unpatriotic" by a man they are donating money to re-elect. 

But that's not my main point. I'll take note of Alan Johnson's comments when he has proved his own patriotism. I'm not even going to mention the ways in which his own government sells British interests at every available opportunity. That would be like kicking a kitten. 

No, Mr Johnson. 

When you've raised millions of pounds for CrimeStoppers, when you've donated your collection of VCs to the nation, when you've given huge amounts of money to Help for Heroes, and countless other charities then I'll listen to you talk about patriotism. 

Michael Ashcroft has done all those things. To label him 'unpatriotic' is a sick joke by a man who ought to know better.

Donations From Non Doms: Labour's Hypocrisy

Iain Dale 10:12 AM

The Labour mudslingers are already out in force, so let's compare and contrast what the Labour Party DOES re non doms, compared to its rhetoric.

Gordon Brown has previously claimed it is ‘a scandal’ that there is not greater transparency on the tax status of party backers. But latest figures show that since 2001, Labour have taken over £10 million from eight reportedly ‘non-dom’ donors:

• Lord Paul – £69,250 in donations to Labour, including £45,000 to Gordon Brown’s leadership campaign. A close friend of Gordon Brown and appointed to the Privy Council last summer, he has admitted to being ‘non-dom’.

• Lakshmi Mittal - £4.125 million in donations to Labour.

• Sir Ronald Cohen - £2.55 million in donations to Labour. Cohen was appointed chair of the Social Investment Taskforce, which was announced by the then Chancellor, Gordon Brown.

• Sir Christopher Ondaatje - £1.7 million in donations to Labour.

• Sir Gulam Noon - £532,826 in donations to Labour.

• William Bollinger - £510,725 in donations to Labour.

• Mahmoud Khayami - £985,000 in donations to Labour including £5,000 to Hazel Blears’ deputy leadership campaign. He has helped bankroll two flagship schools, one of which Gordon Brown opened, and was personally thanked for a donation by Tony Blair.

• Dr David Potter - £90,000 in a donation to Labour. He has previously delivered a lecture at Downing Street.

And compare this with the donations from Lord Ashcroft's Bearwood company...

• Only one per cent donated by Bearwood this year. In the last calendar year, Bearwood’s donations contribution to the Conservative Party amounts to just one per cent of all donations – £329,859 donated out of £32,508,866 received by the Conservative Party (Electoral Commission register).

• Less than five per cent donated by Lord Ashcroft and Bearwood since Cameron became leader. Since David Cameron became leader, less than five per cent of cash and in-kind donations have come from Bearwood Corporate Services, a company in which Lord Ashcroft has an interest. Since Q1 2006, Bearwood has donated £4,131,995 in cash and in-kind out of a total £90,723,018 donated to the Conservative Party in the same period (Electoral Commission register).

• At most 10 per cent of marginal seat funds donated by Bearwood. Of the funds spent in marginal seats, the amount received from Bearwood is no more than 10 per cent at most (Electoral Commission register). The Independent put this at 18% in their Saturday edition, but those who have done the calculations disagree and out it at a maximum of 10%.

The point is that David Cameron has made clear that in future all donations will have to be made by domiciled UK taxpayers. Gordon Brown, so far as I am aware, has made no such commitment. Lord Ashcroft has said he will abide by the new rules. Will Lord Paul and Sir Ronnie Cohen and their friends?

Declaration of interest: Lord Ashcroft is a minority shareholder in my two companies, Biteback Media & Biteback Publishing

Michael Ashcroft Clarifies His Tax Status

Iain Dale 9:00 AM

Michael Ashcroft has this morning made a statement on his website clarifying his tax status...

I am making this statement in advance of the release by the Cabinet Office of limited information about the award of my peerage and of the undertakings I gave at the time. While I value my privacy, I do not want my affairs to distract from the general election campaign. I have therefore decided to release a copy of the letter which I wrote to William Hague, and to expand on what actually happened.

As the letter shows, the undertakings I gave were confirmed in a memorandum to William Hague dated 23rd March 2000. These were to "take up permanent residence in the UK again" by the end of that year. The other commitment in the memorandum was to resign as Belize's permanent representative to the UN, which I did a week later.

In subsequent dialogue with the Government, it was officially confirmed that the interpretation in the first undertaking of the words "permanent residence" was to be that of "a long term resident" of the UK. I agreed to this and finally took up my seat in the House of Lords in October 2000. Throughout the last ten years, I have been declaring all my UK income to HM Revenue.

My precise tax status therefore is that of a “non-dom". Two of Labour's biggest donors - Lord Paul (recently made a privy councillor by the Prime Minister) and Sir Ronald Cohen, both long-term residents of the UK, are also "non-doms".

As for the future, while the non-dom status will continue for many people in business or public life, David Cameron has said that anyone sitting in the legislature - Lords or Commons - must be treated as resident and domiciled in the UK for tax purposes. I agree with this change and expect to be sitting in the House of Lords for many years to come.

A Conservative Party spokesman has reacted by saying: "David Cameron has said that he respects people's privacy but he is pleased Lord Ashcroft has made this decision. It is clear therefore that Lord Ashcroft has the same status as several Labour donors including Lord Paul - recently appointed to the Privy Council on the recommendation of Gordon Brown's Government."

It will be interesting to see how people react to this news. The demonisation of Lord Ashcroft will no doubt continue in some parts of the media, egged on by partisan Labour politicians. It's no doubt water off a duck's back. The Independent on Saturday carried a long feature about the amount of money given to marginal seats by Lord Ashcroft, but it rather backfired as the figures show that only 18% of the money spent in the marginals was donated by Lord Ashcroft, with 82% raised by local candidates and Conservative Associations themselves.

Declaration of interest: Lord Ashcroft is a minority shareholder in my two companies, Biteback Media & Biteback Publishing