Tory conflict of interest over BT break-up

Questions have been raised over a possible conflict of interest arising from George Osborne’s announcement yesterday that he intends to break up BT as part of his plans for a broadband revolution because it “holds back” companies like Virgin and Carphone Warehouse.

The co-founder of Carphone Warehouse David Ross is a close friend of David Cameron, donating more than £130,000 to the Conservative party. A man not without controversy, he was forced to resign as Boris Johnson’s Olympic Adviser in December 2008 after breaking stock exchange rules by using £157 million of Carphone Warehouse shares to prop up his struggling property empire, and only last December he was questioned by police over an alleged assault.

Here is a detailed breakdown of his donations to the Conservative party; figures obtained from the Electoral Commission:

Received by	Donor	Date	Donation	Accumulation
CCO	Mr David P Ross	09/05/2001	£25,000	£25,000
CCO	David Ross	31/03/2006	£5,300	£30,300
CCO	Mr David Ross	20/07/2006	£4,460	£34,760
CCO	Mr David Ross	02/10/2006	£3,600	£38,360
Corby	David Ross	06/06/2007	£2,500	£40,860
Corby	David Ross	19/09/2007	£1,500	£42,360
CCO	Mr David Ross	20/12/2007	£41,000	£83,360
Corby	Mr David Ross	20/12/2007	£1,500	£84,860
Corby	Mr David P J Ross	12/03/2008	£1,500	£86,360
CCO	Mr David PJ Ross	08/05/2008	£30,500	£116,860
Corby	Mr David PJ Ross	12/06/2008	£1,500	£118,360
Corby	Mr David PJ Ross	10/09/2008	£1,500	£119,860
CCO	Mr David PJ Ross	10/11/2008	£8,000	£127,860
Corby	Mr David PJ Ross	17/12/2008	£1,500	£129,360
Corby	Mr David PJ Ross	11/03/2009	£1,500	£130,860
Corby	Mr David PJ Ross	18/06/2009	£1,500	£132,360
Corby	Mr David PJ Ross	10/09/2009	£1,500	£133,860

The Conservative party were unavailable for comment.