Lords defeat govt over overseas donors
By politics.co.uk staff
Labour and Lib Dem peers have inflicted a blow against the government after they passed an amendment to the political parties and elections bill barring tax exiles from donating to political parties.
The amendment stresses that only people resident in the UK for tax purposes can make donations to political parties.
The amendment will now have to be debated in the Commons but it is unlikely to succeed there due to Labour and Tory opposition.
Both parties benefit from the current situation, but the Conservatives more than most due to their relationship with Tory deputy chairman and donor Lord Ashcroft.
Lord Ashcroft will play a critical role in the general election, by directing funding towards marginal constituencies but his residency status is still unclear.
He was partly brought up in Belize, a British protectorate, and continues to play a prominent role there.
The Tories say he is registered to vote in the UK and his companies are registered at Company House, making the donations legal under electoral law, but Lord Ashcroft refuses to say whether he is resident in the UK or if he pays taxes here.
Last February the Electoral Commission began an investigation into donations to the Tories from one of his firms.
The amendment to the bill was tabled by Labour peer Lord Campbell-Savours and passed in the Lords by 22 votes.
Forty-six Labour peers backed the amendment, the largest rebellion in the Lords since Tony Blair came to power.
