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 Comment ‘How Burnham’s devolution revolution can deliver for North Wales’ The North Star leads the way; it certainly has over the past two weeks and looks like it… Andrew Ranger MP 4th July, 2026, 12:00 pm Comment ‘A century of keeping Labour true to working people – and the work continues’ This week, we celebrated 100 years of the Trade Union Group of Labour MPs. From its inception in… Ian Lavery MP 4th July, 2026, 10:00 am Interview What are Labour’s newest MPs proudest of two years into government? As Labour marks two years in government, its newest MPs are beginning to build their own records in… Daniel Green & James Tibbitts 4th July, 2026, 6:00 am
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
Comment ‘How Burnham’s devolution revolution can deliver for North Wales’ The North Star leads the way; it certainly has over the past two weeks and looks like it… Andrew Ranger MP 4th July, 2026, 12:00 pm
Comment ‘A century of keeping Labour true to working people – and the work continues’ This week, we celebrated 100 years of the Trade Union Group of Labour MPs. From its inception in… Ian Lavery MP 4th July, 2026, 10:00 am
Interview What are Labour’s newest MPs proudest of two years into government? As Labour marks two years in government, its newest MPs are beginning to build their own records in… Daniel Green & James Tibbitts 4th July, 2026, 6:00 am
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