Conservative Party deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft estimated to have saved £127million in tax says Huhne

10.43.00pm GMT Mon 8th Mar 2010

Conservative Party deputy chairman (and former Chelmsford student) Lord Ashcroft is estimated to have saved more than £127m in British tax since he became a member of the House of Lords, according to Liberal Democrat research. Lord Ashcroft's annual tax saving is conservatively estimated to be £12.76m and he has been a member of the House of Lords for a decade.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "Anyone who wants to pass laws in this country should pay this country's full taxes and not hide behind the special offshore status of non-doms.

"Non-doms have to tell the taxman that their first allegiance is to another country. No-one should be a British lawmaker whose first allegiance is not to Britain.

"On even the most conservative estimates, Lord Ashcroft has avoided vast amounts of British tax by deploying the non-dom tax dodge. If he challenges our estimate of how much tax he has dodged, then there is a simple solution: publish the figure."