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7 February 2013

Watch: Lord Ashcroft tries to pwn Owen Jones, fails

Owen Jones announces he's donating Ashcroft-funded prize money to Labour candidate and anti-cuts activists; Tory peer fails to deliver a decent comeback.

By Caroline Crampton

Owen Jones caused a bit of a stir last night, when after it was revealed that he had won the Political Book Awards Young Writer of the Year award, he announced he would be giving his £3,000 prize money (donated by Lord Ashcroft) away – half to Lisa Forbes, Labour candidate in Peterborough, and half to the Disabled People Against the Cuts group.

He tweeted:

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Thanks to Jones, Tory mega-donor Lord Ashcroft’s money is going to be funding a Labour parliamentary candidate and a group of activists who vehemently oppose the actions of the Conservative politicians in the coalition. When he came up on stage to present another award, Lord Ashcroft attempted to have a pop at Jones in return, and delivered an unconvincing comeback. Watch here (from 1:30):

Transcript of Ashcroft’s remarks about Jones:

To Owen Jones, who very kindly said his prize that I was donating he would give to causes – I would like to have a chat with you Owen, because I’m very happy to pay these to charities of your choice for a number of reasons. One, I’ll get tax relief; two, they can get Gift Aid, which will give them a little bit more; and thirdly, you won’t have to pay any tax on the prize. Therefore, if I could invite you to lunch at my local greasy spoon, the House of Lords, to discuss that, I would be delighted.

PS If Owen turns down Lord Ashcroft’s offer of a date, it’ll only be the second time in 24 hours:

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