David Cameron has been forced to admit that 15 donors who between them gave the Conservative Party £25million enjoyed secret dinners and lunches with him at Chequers and in Downing Street. Those who dined with the Prime Minister without civil servants present to take notes were some of the richest men and women in the country. At least one had openly called on ministers to scrap the 50p rate of income tax, the abolition of which was announced in last week’s Budget.
Among the new revelations in the donation row yesterday:
• Michael Spencer, one of the major Tory donors entertained by Mr Cameron at both Downing Street and Chequers boasted that he had been told by key figures in the Government that a proposed financial transaction tax would be vetoed by ministers
• Donor Ian Taylor, whose oil firm was given Government help to set up a controversial supply deal in Libya, was a private dinner guest of Mr Cameron at Downing Street in November.
• 29 donors were disclosed to have given more than £250,000 to the Conservatives – the 'Premier League’ level described by Mr Cruddas – since Mr Cameron was elected leader in 2005, on a total of 76 occasions.
It was revealed that the donors who dined in Downing Street – many with their wives – between July 2010 and November 2012 were: Anthony Bamford of the JCB construction empire; Michael Hintze, a hedge fund executive; Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover of the supermarket dynasty, Paul Ruddock, a hedge fund executive and V&A chairman; Michael Farmer, a commodities trader; Michael and Clara Freeman, philanthropists; and Michael Spencer, a spread-betting tycoon.
The supporters hosted at Chequers between August 2010 and February 2011 were: David Rowland, a property developer; Lord Ashcroft, a former Tory treasurer; Howard Leigh, a corporate financier and party fundraiser; and Mr Spencer. Lord Fink, who has replaced Mr Cruddas as party treasurer was also a guest at the Prime Minister’s Buckinghamshire country estate last year, records show.
In total, the 15 have donated almost £25 million to the Conservatives, the vast majority since Mr Cameron became party leader in December 2005.
Read more here:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/9168388/Cash-for-access-David-Camerons-private-dinners-for-donors-revealed.html
