Local MP, Gordon Prentice, told the House of Commons this afternoon that "Pendle is not for sale".

Prentice asked the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, if he had visited the MP's website today which showed how the forthcoming election in Pendle was "being bought by a tax exile".  The MP went on to warn that "Pendle is not for sale".

Brown condemned Conservatives for refusing to answer questions about Lord Ashcroft - who has been bankrolling the Conservative Party for years - and whether he is resident in the UK for tax purposes.

In branding the Conservatives as "evasive and obfuscatory" Brown was quoting the words of the Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, who has ordered the release of information to the Pendle MP about Ashcroft's peerage.

Speaking afterwards, the Pendle MP said: "At some stage, the Conservatives will have to come clean about Ashcroft's tax status.  He was turned down for a peerage in 1999 and then elevated the following year on the recommendation of the then Leader of the Conservative Party, William Hague.  His peerage was granted on condition that he would take up UK residence and pay UK taxes."

"It is an insult to the voters to imagine they can be bought in this way.  They expect the Conservatives to tell the truth about Michael Ashcroft.  After all, he is their Party vice chairman."

Note to Editors: The Information Commissioner has ordered the Cabinet Office to tell the Pendle MP the form of the undertaking Michael Ashcroft gave when he was being considered for a peerage in 2000 and to whom that undertaking was given.

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