Hague admits Ashcroft peerage pledge error

"The one thing I would concede on this, and which I think in retrospect was a mistake, was to say 'tens of millions' because it may have cost him millions.

"We don't know, it may have cost him millions into the future. But of course none of us can know -- other than him and the tax authorities -- what it has cost."

Hague said the Cabinet Office documents, being released to a parliamentary committee, showed that the final Ashcroft agreement had been seen by Downing Street and the head of the civil service.

"The idea that this was a secret Tory deal for Lord Ashcroft to be able to avoid whatever tax people thought he ought to be paying is rather blown apart by the knowledge that this was all copied to Downing Street," said Hague.

(Editing by Steve Addison)