Ten years of tax avoidance  

Total of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan = 267 The Tories attempt to divert attention from the confession of Lord Ashcroft is a crude ploy. My friend Gordon Prentice deserves an accolade for his persistence in pursuing the elusive Lord. It was three years ago that Gordon put his FOI request. Not a week has gone by since when he has not raised the issue. He has apologised to fellow members of our Select Committee on the need to constantly demand a simple answer to his repeated question. In 1999, when Conservative leader at the time William Hague first recommended Lord Ashcroft for a Peerage, he was rejected. It was only in 2000, after he promised to return to live in Britain and pay tax here like you or I, that the House of Lords allowed him to become a member. It is now confirmed that this was a promise he never kept. For ten years, William Hague, Michael Howard and David Cameron...