Come clean on funding Craig!

Letter from Hilary Myers to the Halifax Courier, 11 March 2010:

I note that Craig Whittaker, the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Calder Valley, is now advertising himself on local buses. I wonder how he can afford such costly promotions?

The cynical attempt of Lord Ashcroft, a non-dom, to fund the campaigns of would-be Tory MPs in marginal seats such as ours and to use his money to support potential lawmakers who would help set the taxes for everyone else while his mega-rich Lordship makes his own arrangements, has been exposed as an outrageous affront to democracy.

In the new spirit of transparency and financial openness to be expected following the MPs’ expenses scandal, I think local voters should be told exactly how much ‘Ashcroft Money’ has been channelled into Craig’s campaign, both in the last few years and in support of this latest expensive initiative.

My questions for Craig are:

1. Have you received any money or donations in kind from Lord Ashcroft or his company Bearwood Corporate Services Ltd since 2000?
2. If so, are you happy to receive money from someone who has not been paying full UK tax?

I challenge him to come clean now about his expenses and how he is funding his campaign. If he is not prepared to be open about this there is little reason to trust him to do so should he be elected to represent the people of Calder Valley in the next Parliament.

Hilary Myers