Lord Ashcroft: I’m a non-dom

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

Lord Ashcroft, who has donated millions of pounds to the Conservatives over the last decade, has announced in a statement this morning that he is non-domiciled in the UK for tax purposes – that is, that he only pays tax here on his UK earnings. The statement was made after a Freedom of Information request to the Cabinet Office:

Labour MP Gordon Prentice, who put in the FOI request, said:

“This is absolutely explosive. He says that he has been declaring all his UK income to HM revenue, he’s not declaring his worldwide income, he’s worth £850m. He should resign from House of Lords immediately.”

Questions remain unanswered:

* Will Michael Ashcroft only commit to changing his tax status under a Conservative government?

* Why is there no specific timeline for Michael Ashcroft to change his status?

* Will David Cameron now say whether his plans to legislate so that UK Parliamentarians must be domiciled in the UK are a first Parliament “commitment”, or an “aspiration”?

* Will Labour make commitments in its manifesto to clamping down on non-doms, as in LabourList’s New Ideas series?