The general consensus here is that the Osborne speech did the business: yet another hurdle has been cleared by the Tories. However, folk here are buzzing about tonight’s Dispatches programme on Tory funding. To my mind, the issue is not whether short sellers are donating to the Tories, but Lord Ashcroft’s tax status. It is a huge strategic liability–and one that a half competent Labour party would exploit–that the Tories cannot say whether one of their vice-chairmen and major donors is domiciled in this country for tax purposes.
I know CoffeeHousers get irritated when the Aschroft issue is raised. But it is reckless for the Tories to let this issue fester precisely because of the good that they could do for the country. In the same vein, the shadow cabinet should give up their second jobs which hand Labour an unnecessary weapon. It is wrong that any shadow cabinet member should have a second job which overlaps with their brief, creating – at the very least – the appearance of a conflict of interest.
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