18th March, 2010, 8:12 am BBC: Hague knew about Ashcroft tax status in 2000 – 8 in the morning, March 18th Alex Smith Share this article: By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982 * BBC alleges William Hague knew about Lord Ashcroft’s tax status in 2000, much earlier than previously claimed. * After another day of Tory attacks on Charlie Whelan, the Guardian plays down his “informal” role, saying “it is away from No 10 where his presence is felt most.” * Evoking the pager system introduced by New Labour in the mid-nineties, Conservative candidates will be kepy on message with new iPhone and BlackBerry applications. * Tensions between speaker John Bercow and Conservative MPs escalate. * The Fabians’ Stuart White questions Labour activists’ confidence in the government’s policy on retention of DNA samples. * George Osborne risks repeating John Smith’s mistakes of 1992 in next week’s budget, argues the Times’ Anatole Kaletsky. * Nadine Dorries is involved in a plot to damage Esther Rantzen’s election campaign in Luton South, reports the Telegraph. * The Conservatives drop a point in the latest YouGov poll, bringing the gap with Labour to four percent. Alex Smith Alex is the founder and CEO of The Cares Family. He was editor and first director of LabourList in 2009-2010, during which time he established the site as the number one Labour blog, and later an aide to Ed Miliband. @alexsmith1982 View all articles by Alex Smith Subscribe to our daily email More from LabourList Columnist ‘Delivering in local government: How Labour is building a better Britain everywhere’ Welcome to our new weekly guide to how Labour Councils up and down the country are helping to… Paul Dimoldenberg 9th June, 2026, 6:00 am Comment ‘Labour must take up the challenge on endometriosis’ “I believe this country has, for far too long, faced not only a problem of everyday sexism but… Anya Sizer 9th June, 2026, 6:00 am News Over 140 Labour MPs call for trade ban on illegal Israeli settlements More than 140 Labour MPs have called on the government to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements in… Daniel Green 8th June, 2026, 1:42 pm
Alex Smith Alex is the founder and CEO of The Cares Family. He was editor and first director of LabourList in 2009-2010, during which time he established the site as the number one Labour blog, and later an aide to Ed Miliband. @alexsmith1982 View all articles by Alex Smith
Columnist ‘Delivering in local government: How Labour is building a better Britain everywhere’ Welcome to our new weekly guide to how Labour Councils up and down the country are helping to… Paul Dimoldenberg 9th June, 2026, 6:00 am
Comment ‘Labour must take up the challenge on endometriosis’ “I believe this country has, for far too long, faced not only a problem of everyday sexism but… Anya Sizer 9th June, 2026, 6:00 am
News Over 140 Labour MPs call for trade ban on illegal Israeli settlements More than 140 Labour MPs have called on the government to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements in… Daniel Green 8th June, 2026, 1:42 pm
More from LabourList
‘Delivering in local government: How Labour is building a better Britain everywhere’
‘Labour must take up the challenge on endometriosis’
Over 140 Labour MPs call for trade ban on illegal Israeli settlements