Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Piggate makes PMQs debut as David Cameron accused of 'telling porkies' over Lord Ashcroft's non-dom status

Labour MP Kevin Brennan challenged the PM over claim he was aware of Lord Ashcroft's non-domicile tax status a year earlier than he has admitted publicly

Matt Dathan
Online political reporter
Wednesday 14 October 2015 14:19 BST
Comments
David Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday
David Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday (David Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Piggate has made its debut at Prime Minister's Questions as David Cameron was asked whether he was "telling porkies" over when he knew about Lord Ashcroft's non-domiciled tax status.

Kevin Brennan, Labour MP for Cardiff West, raised Lord Ashcroft's suggestion that Mr Cameron had misled the public over his controversial tax arrangements in the run-up to the 2010 election.

The former deputy chairman of the Conservative party, who co-authored the unauthorised biography of Mr Cameron Call Me Dave after the pair fell out, claimed the Prime Minister was "fully aware" of his status as a non-dom in 2009.

But Mr Cameron insisted he only became aware of Lord Ashcroft's situation when details emerged in March 2010 and has refused to respond to claims made by the Tory peer in his book.

Mr Brennan, referring to the widely-publicised allegations also made in the book that Mr Cameron "put a private part of his anatomy" into a dead pig's mouth during a university initiation ceremony, asked Mr Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions which one of them was "telling porkies".

The Prime Minister ignored the question and his spokesman refused to be drawn on the matter afterwards, insisting he had dealt with the issue at the time. Instead Mr Cameron joked: "I would think of many better uses of his time than reading that book. I managed to procure a free copy and in order not to give anyone royalties I'll gladly lend him a copy."

He insisted however that he was the one who proposed banning non-doms from sitting in the House of Lords, a move backed by Labour and the Tories in 2010.

Mr Cameron has denied the lurid allegations that he had once inserted his genitals into a dead pig's mouth, but said he was "too busy running the country" to consider taking legal action against Lord Ashcroft.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in