Lord Paul will end his non-dom status

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

As the row over non-domiciled peers continues, Labour peer and donor, Lord Paul, says he is to end his controversial “non-dom” tax status, in an interview with the New Statesman.

Lord Paul tells Mehdi Hasan:

“On the issue of taxation position of peers, of course it goes without saying that I’ll be fully complying with the change of law which the government is bringing forward. I strongly support the government proposals in relation to the taxation status of peers and MPs and the membership of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.”

Contrasting his own tax situation with that of Lord Ashcroft, Lord Paul remarks:

“I think they have been caught with their pants down and what better than try to reflect on others. First of all, I am a born domicile. I am born in India. He was the only one who was asked to pay full taxes. Nobody asked me. I have always been open about my non-domiciled status. There are lots of non-doms in the House of Lords but I don’t know of any case where they were asked to pay full tax, apart from Lord Ashcroft.”

And on his own role in the House of Lords, he says:

“I am not buying MPs, seats or the party. I have no interest in being a minister. I’m too old for it anyway. The Tories seem to be confused. And don’t forget I was appointed a peer by John Major, not by the Labour government of Tony Blair or Gordon Brown.”

Read the full New Statesman story here.