An interesting piece in the Observer on 31 January about Lord Ashcroft. We are told he accompanied William Hague on a visit to Cuba and sits in on meetings between the Shadow Foreign Secretary and whoever.

Ashcroft provided the flights and allowed Hague to stay on board his yacht. In his entry in the Register of Members’ Interests Hague declared the flights on a private jet from Flying Lion, a company controlled by Ashcroft, but added that he had covered the cost of his accommodation himself. No mention of staying on board the tycoon's yacht.

Hague’s spokesman subsequently explained that he had paid Ashcroft for his two nights on board at a rate equivalent to a stay in a top hotel.

Does it matter? Are we all getting too obsessed with this relationship?

Alistair Graham, the former chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said: “The key point is whether he entered an obligation when he stayed on the yacht. I think his decision not to mention it is outside the spirit of the rules.”