Billionaire Tory donor Lord Ashcroft was embroiled in fresh controversy last night after it emerged that he accompanied the shadow foreign secretary to key meetings overseas, amid rumours that he will be given a top foreign policy role in a future Conservative government.
The Observer can reveal that the peer, who pumps millions of pounds into marginal seats but refuses to say whether he pays tax in Britain, is flying William Hague around the world and went with him on his recent trip to the US, during which Hague met Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, and other key US figures.
The Tories last night confirmed that Ashcroft had been on the trip and attended some meetings, but refused to say who he had met, or whether he was being groomed for a high-level foreign policy position either in an advisory or a ministerial capacity in a future Tory government.
As well as meeting Clinton, Hague was scheduled to see national security adviser General Jim Jones, Senate committee on foreign relations chair John Kerry, Senator John McCain and World Bank president Robert Zoellick.
After a week in which Ashcroft's complex finances and use of offshore tax havens have come under renewed scrutiny, MPs condemned David Cameron for allowing the peer to attend crucial meetings with Britain's closest and most important ally as the Tories shape foreign policy in preparation for government.
Labour MP Gisela Stuart, a member of the House of Commons select committee on foreign affairs, said: "The fact that the Tories' major donor and major influence behind the party's election campaign, who has such untransparent financial affairs, is now influencing Tory foreign policy is extremely worrying, particularly in the light of David Cameron's avowed commitment to openness."
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Lord Oakeshott said Ashcroft's role was a matter of deep concern and showed that Cameron's claims to be promoting transparency at all levels of the Conservative party were "bogus".
"Why is Lord Ashcroft at the heart of Hague's discussions in the US? The shadow foreign secretary taking a free trip on Ashcroft Airways is distasteful enough. But having Lord Ashcroft as a key player is worse. Refusing to say whether he pays full British taxes and his extreme anti-European views should disqualify him from any government position," he said.
Hague's visit to Washington last month was described in one Tory-supporting newspaper as the most comprehensive US visit by a shadow foreign secretary since Labour came to power in 1997.
Ashcroft, who owns several properties in the US, including a sprawling estate in Florida, met Hague in Washington and then flew back with him to Britain. It is not known whether they flew in one of Ashcroft's two jets. A diplomatic source said: "Lord Ashcroft was part of the official party that was organised by Her Majesty's Opposition. His inclusion in the party certainly raised a few eyebrows in Washington, because he's a controversial figure."
General Jones's office declined to say whether Ashcroft was present at Hague's meeting. It is understood that Ashcroft did not attend meetings with either Kerry or Clinton.
Ashcroft is facing a mounting backlash in his adopted home of Belize. The current Belizean government has expressed outrage that two of Ashcroft's companies signed confidential deals with the previous administration that would allow the firms legally to reclaim millions of pounds in tax.
It has emerged that, in two separate judgments, the London Court of International Arbitration has ruled that the Belizean government must now pay the two companies $41m – almost £25m – to meet its obligations under the agreement signed by its predecessor.
Critics of Ashcroft complain about the confidential nature of the "accommodation agreements" – one signed with Telemedia, a telecoms company previously owned by the Tory peer, and the other his Belizean bank.
"We need to continue to attract outside investments, but it needs to be done in a transparent fashion," said independent senator Godwin Hulse.
The prime minister of Belize, Dean Barrow, has pledged to resist any attempt by Ashcroft to reclaim the cash from one of the most impoverished countries in central America.
Ashcroft denies he now has any interest in Telemedia but his claims are rejected by the Belizean government. However, any attempt to continue using the London courts to recover the cash could prompt further outrage in Belize and place Ashcroft in an uncomfortable light in the run-up to the general election.
Baron Ashcroft of Chichester, deputy chairman of the party, gave £1.6m to the Conservatives in 2008 through his company Bearwood.
He first began to wield influence over the Tories between 1998 and 2001 when he donated several million pounds to the party. Hague made him party treasurer and secured him a life peerage in 2000.
Ashcroft has been criticised for refusing to clarify his tax status and explain whether he pays income tax in Britain. Amid growing controversy over politicians' finances there has been mounting pressure for peers to guarantee that they pay tax in this country as a condition for membership of the House of Lords.
Separately, the Electoral Commission is investigating whether donations from Ashcroft's company to the Tory party comply with electoral law. Labour claims Bearwood, a British-registered firm, has been the beneficiary of cash from Stargate Holdings, a Belize-based company. Overseas companies are banned from making donations to political parties in Britain.
Ashcroft's companies have made a series of donations to members of the Tories' foreign affairs team. As well as paying for most of Hague's flights, Flying Lion has flown Mark Francois, the shadow minister to Europe, to former Yugoslav and Russian states and Andrew Mitchell, the shadow international development secretary, to South America, the Caribbean and Africa over the last two years.
A spokesman for Hague said: "We flew back with him [Ashcroft] from Washington and this will be declared in the normal way. Lord Ashcroft attended some of the meetings and he didn't attend the meeting with Hillary Clinton."
A spokesman for Lord Ashcroft referred all queries to the Conservative party.
