Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. William Hague: "It is up to the individual themselves to reveal anything about their tax status" The row over Lord Ashcroft has reopened despite documents appearing to confirm that he did not have to become a full UK taxpayer to join the Lords.The Tory donor was made a peer in 2000 after undertaking to become a permanent UK resident, which was widely believed to mean he would be a full UK taxpayer. Ex-Tory leader William Hague said the documents showed No 10 agreed the peerage did not depend on tax status. But Labour accused him of continuing to "obfuscate" the issue. Foreign Secretary David Miliband said: "It is now clear there has been a decade of deception at the top of the Conservative Party and I repeat my call, which is backed today by a former Chief Executive of the Conservative Party, that David Cameron sacks Lord Ashcroft. "As for William Hague, he needs to explain why it's taken 10 years to drag the truth out of the Conservative Party and why he continues to obfuscate today.[Read more...]