MR MICHAEL ASHCROFT AND THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY

Early day motion 839, tabled 15 July 1999 by Peter Bradley (Labour). Signed by 44 members.

That this House notes that Mr Michael Ashcroft acts as the Conservative Party's Treasurer and most generous funder; expresses its surprise that he should occupy those positions given his status as a UK tax exile, domiciled in Florida, conducting his principal business activities in Belize, serving as that country's UN Ambassador, funding the Government Party of Belize, and enjoying citizenship rights in Belize and the Turks and Caicos Islands as well as in the UK; notes with alarm the warnings given by senior diplomats to Ministers in the previous Conservative Government that there was 'a shadow over his reputation that ought not to be ignored'; further notes that the Political Honours Scrutiny Committee rejected his candidature for a peerage because of that reputation; notes the growing anxieties of senior Tories about Mr Ashcroft's dominant relationship with the Conservative Party; expresses its dismay that the Conservative Party Chairman has to date refused to clarify whether Mr Ashcroft's role in the party conforms with its rules on foreign funding; and calls upon the Leader of the Opposition to dismiss Mr Ashcroft, disclose the size of his donations and return them, or place on the record his reasons for not doing so.

Signatures by party: Labour 41, Labour/Co-operative 2, Liberal Democrat 1.