The Tories have led us to reverse the battle cry of the American Revolution. The colonists broke away from Britain because they were being taxed but not represented in Parliament. Lord Ashcroft has been seeking to influence your vote, that of every voter in a marginal constituency, and, ultimately, who represents you in Parliament, while opting not to pay taxes in the United Kingdom.

The anger that the disclosure of Lord Ashcroft’s tax status has unleashed isn’t just because he is a non-dom who opts not to pay taxes in the UK. It is because he has been concealing this fact from the electorate through a wall of silence which was becoming increasingly embarrassing to his Conservative beneficiaries. Every member of the shadow cabinet was being asked about Lord Ashcroft’s tax status, and the undertakings he made when he became a peer, and they all avoided giving an answer. If there is nothing wrong with accepting funds from offshore billionaires to help you persuade voters in marginal seats why not simply admit it?

The ultimate hypocrisy is that they now all say how pleased they are that it is all out in the open, so why was it hidden for so long? They are right to say that both Labour and the LibDems have benefited from political donations from other non-doms. However neither party tried to cover it up. We all have some donors who end up being embarrassing, as do politicians in most western democracies where campaign funding has to be raised from donors. It is part of the price we pay for a democracy based on private political funding.

The problem of course is that the Tories attract funding from the superrich. They are now priding themselves on having reduced their dependence on Lord Ashcroft. Sure, but only to replace it with cash from bankers’ bonuses.

Likewise Labour depends both on a small number of wealthy donors and on the deep pockets of the trade unions, who appear to get precious little in return.

The LibDems have the lowest level of funding and, fortunately, we are not in anybody’s pocket.

So when the silky voiced Tory call centre operative gives you a ring to persuade you to support their campaign, or the latest suspiciously glossy piece of Tory literature falls on your mat don’t be seduced. Think carefully whether what is good for the superrich is also good for you and the wider community. If you decide it isn’t you will know that you should cast your vote elsewhere.