Tory accounts reveal increased reliance on Ashcroft

WILLIAM HAGUE came under fresh fire over political funding last night as his party accounts revealed a heavier reliance on Michael Ashcroft than was previously known to the public.

The Tories' latest set of accounts show the party is relying on Mr Ashcroft even to cover day-to-day running costs.

Mr Hague had hoped to draw a line under the row over Mr Ashcroft's role as party treasurer when the businessman settled a legal action against The Times last week.

The accounts, slipped out late yesterday in an attempt to avoid publicity, showed that in addition to donations of pounds 1.16m during the year to March 1999, Mr Ashcroft had outstanding loans to the party of up to pounds 2m.

Among the donations in kind he gave were flights, market research, direct mailing and staff costs. The party had repeatedly denied that it was being "bankrolled" by the businessman, whose interests are mainly based in Belize.

The figures suggested that Mr Ashcroft remained easily the party's biggest donor. It was known that he had promised pounds 3m over three years. More seriously, the accounts showed the party's financial future in a very grim light. Despite Mr Ashcroft's support, donations fell by almost a third during the year from pounds 9.75m to pounds 6.4m. The party's revenue accounts slid from pounds 479,000 in the black in April 1997 to pounds 10.2m in the red in 1998 and pounds 12m this year.

A party spokesman said Mr Ashcroft, who had promised to move back to Britain from his Florida home, gave the party just 10 per cent of its spending.

Michael Ancram, the party chairman, said the accounts showed a steady improvement in the party's position. "We now have a much broader funding base, with an increased number of donors," he said. During 1998 Labour had donations of almost pounds 8m and earned pounds 3.3m in membership income - compared with the Tories' pounds 476,000 in quotas from local parties, which fell from pounds 630,000 in 1997-98.

Ian McCartney, Labour MP for Makerfield and a Cabinet Office minister, said Mr Hague had shown poor judgement in allowing Mr Ashcroft to take control of his party's finances. "The Labour Party would never allow one person to hold the roles of treasurer, chief finance officer, principal donor and principal fund-raiser," he said.