Non Dom

I would not have thought it possible after the various prangs of the Tory campaign thus far, that its managers would find the benefit of the Cameron speech in Brighton eclipsed by the revelation that the man, who probably saved the party from bancruptcy, pays no tax on the bulk of his income to the exchequer of the country whose choice of government he invests so much to influence. Not only did his bankrolling buy him a peerage but also, more important, the deputy chairmanship of the Tory party and control over its campaign in the marginals, where floods of his money seek to drown the efforts of Labour and the Lib Dems.

This is, for the Tories a most unfortunate turn. However, it must be said that this Tory mega donor is within the law and some donors to the other parties are also non doms. None of these exert anything approaching the control over their recipient parties enjoyed by Lord Ashcroft. 

Yet all of this has been suspected for a long time. What is really damaging is the fudging and shuffling given by leading Tories in answers to questions on this issue from commentators and journalists, including Marr and Paxman. Cameron and his ever more uncertain looking team have quickly sought to regain credibility by offering Lord Ashcroft ‘support’ for his disclosure. This really is not good enough. They knew the truth (oh yes they did, or if not should have) but they thought they could keep it under wraps. Then the chill blast of the Freedom of Information Act blew open the closet.

Once again it shows a bad judgement call. People are fed up with politicians who do not tell the truth or the whole truth or who say stuff to put inquirers off the scent. Forget ‘what I meant was’ or ‘I mis-spoke’. To ordinary people these fudges are lies. The experience of Blair, his dossier and his hysteria about non-existent weapons of mass destruction, has put paid for generations any prospect of giving politicians the benefit of the doubt. If there is a lack of trust about people may be persuaded to offer what little is left to the devil they know. This is another reason why Gordon’s star is rising and David’s is falling.

Somebody at Tory H.Q needs to give a pep talk. This is no longer a wobble. Bits are dropping off.