Across the pond

The key fact about Lord Ashcroft which makes him different from the other non-dems is that he gave assurances to William Hague , Downing Street, and the Queen, and since the news was made public ten years ago, the British electorate, that he would not only give up his non-dom status, but also that that would mean he would pay millions of pounds more UK tax.

As a result he was made a peer.

In fact, as he has now finally admitted he managed to get himself a deal which meant he carried on NOT paying the UK tax we had all been promised.

This is the kind of blatant  deception which gets politicans a bad name.

Sleaze on a large scale which makes the amounts MPs fiddled on their expenses look like peanuts.

Just when Hague and David Cameron discovered that he was pulling the wool over their eyes, and ours, is not clear. Hague says he found out a few months ago, Cameron, says he did not know until the last few days.

I can imagine their horror when they found out. Whatever they did would have been harmful. But by not coming clean immediately they have made it worse.

If they want to win this election, they should drop Ashcroft now, not after the election.

It will probably mean they will have to borrow money from the banks to fund the election campaign. But if they don’t  do it, the electorate will have cause to doubt their honour, whenever Ashcroft’s name is mentioned.

As his name will be mentioned daily, particularly in those marginal seats which the Ashcroft money is funding.