Verbal battle over political donations

A BITTER war of words has broken out between election rivals in Warrington over donations made to political parties.
Prospective Parliamentary candidates for Warrington South, Nick Bent (Labour) and David Mowat (Conservative) have gone head-to-head on the issue of donations from non-domiciled donors – “non-doms”.
It started with an open letter from Mr Bent (left) to Mr Mowat (right) questioning whether the Warrington South Conservative Constituency had received any funds from Tory Peer Lord Ashcroft, or his company, Bearwood Services between 2000 and the 2005 General Election, or since.
He also questioned whether Lord Ashcroft had ever spent money on private polling in Warrington South and, if so, if he had paid VAT on it.
Mr Clegg queries whether Mr Mowat has received any financial support from Lord Ashcroft, his companies or any other non-dom tax exiles and whether he has met Lord Ashcroft or discussed his campaign with him.
Mr Mowat has hit back by pointing out that Labour has received more than £7 million from non-dom donors, including Lord Paul.
He said: “Nick Bent is concerned about a donation that was made in 2005 – two years before I was a candidate and five years before he was.
“Since I became a candidate in 2007 we have received no donations from Bearswood or any other Ashcroft company. My campaign is funded by money raised in Warrington by myself and local volunteers.
“Can Mr Bent give a similar assurance in respect of the unions and Labour party non-domiciled donors? Of course the main difference is that the unions use their money to buy policy influence. Ashcroft has no policy influence.
“Mr Bent should tell us how much it costs to run his large office in Warrington and how much of that has been paid for by Labour’s non-doms or the several millions contributed by the unions. Our office is 100 per cent funded by local donations.
“The real point here is that the Labour Party cannot defend their record in Warrington so they try to raise issues like this. The issues I hear about on the doorstep are jobs, the NHS and the harm that 13 years of Labour has done to our town and our country.”
Mr Mowat denies ever meeting Lord Ashcroft or discussing his campaign with him and says he can give a categorical assurance that he is not receiving funding from him or any other non-dom.