Will candidate live up to reputation?
A COUPLE of days ago another glossy Conservative Party leaflet dropped onto my doormat.
This one promotes Hannah Foster, the Tory candidate for Exeter, and I was pleased to read that "she has a reputation for being straightforward and direct".
So I wonder if I could take her at her word and invite her to answer the following questions in her "straightforward and direct" manner:
1. A number of recent letters to the Echo have questioned the source of funding for the plethora of Conservative glossy leaflets and letters we have received this year, and for the recent David Cameron poster campaign we saw across Exeter last month. Both the local Liberal Democrat and Labour Party websites have also challenged the Tories to reveal their source of funding.
Would Ms Foster please tell us whether any of this material was paid for by persons who are domiciled in the UK for tax purposes?
2. Ms Foster says she will ensure that "…more decisions are taken locally to reflect Exeter's needs...". Would she please therefore tell us whether she agrees with local Conservative councillors who support the case for Exeter City Council gaining unitary status?
3. David Cameron has promised a free vote on repeal of the Hunting Act if the Tories win the general election. Would Ms Foster please tell us whether she will vote for or against repeal of this legislation?
Dilys Baldwin
Knightley Road, Exeter
3 Comments
by Paul, Alphington
Tuesday, March 02 2010, 6:54AM
“It is ironic that the income tax saved by M'Lords Ashcroft, Paul and others
who enjoy "non-dom" status has come back into the country as donations to political parties.
Should we, therefore, tax at 40% any donations made by these people going back say 10 years.”
by eleanor frost, exeter
Tuesday, March 02 2010, 4:47AM
“Good letter.
Don't hold your breath waiting though..... :)”
by Colin Farlow, Pinhoe
Tuesday, March 02 2010, 12:30AM
“Dilys Baldwin raises an important point in her letter about the extravagantly produced leaflets that Hannah Foster's campaign has distributed recently. Unfortunately, she made a slip in asking "Would Ms Foster please tell us whether any of this material was paid for by persons who are domiciled in the UK for tax purposes?"
Dilys clearly must have meant NOT domiciled in the UK, the position we have now discovered applies to Lord Ashcroft, a Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party who has concealed his tax status for the ten years since he was ennobled.
The more precise question that Hannah Foster needs to answer is: "Is Exeter one of the Ashcroft marginals, receiving targeted funding from this tainted source?"”