"The Conservative Party has been bought like a banana republic"

5.50.00pm GMT Tue 2nd Mar 2010

Lord Ashcroft's money is being used by the Conservatives to ensure they win marginal seats

Commenting on Lord Ashcroft's admission that he is non-domiciled for tax purposes, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne MP said: "The Conservatives' biggest donor is a tax-dodger from Belize who has not paid a penny of British tax on the vast bulk of his estimated £1.1bn fortune held offshore. This raises extraordinary questions about the judgement of successive Tory leaders - William Hague, Michael Howard and David Cameron - whose view seems to be that only little people should pay tax. The Tory party has been bought like a banana republic."

Wantage and Didcot spokesman Alan Armitage added: "It is unbelievable that the Conservative leadership doesn't understand that people they elevate to the House of Lords should be seen to be entirely loyal and committed to Britain. For years they have claimed that Ashcroft had given them the necessary solemn and binding assurances. Since he clearly misled them, are they prepared to do anything to show everybody they feel betrayed? Or has he bought his way so far into their organisation that they daren't say anything which might offend him?"

Mr Armitage added: "If this is the way the Conservatives intend to manage the nation's finances, then they simply can't be trusted to defend Britain's interests. With them, the wealthy can do exactly what they want to. It's even worse than Labour."

Lord Ashcroft is estimated to have saved more than £127m in British tax since he became a member of the House of Lords, according to Liberal Democrat research. Lord Ashcroft's annual tax saving is conservatively estimated to be £12.76m and he has been a member of the House of Lords for a decade. Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "Anyone who wants to pass laws in this country should pay this country's full taxes and not hide behind the special offshore status of non-doms. Non-doms have to tell the taxman that their first allegiance is to another country. No-one should be a British lawmaker whose first allegiance is not to Britain. On even the most conservative estimates, Lord Ashcroft has avoided vast amounts of British tax by deploying the non-dom tax dodge. If he challenges our estimate of how much tax he has dodged, then there is a simple solution: publish the figure."