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The last-minute decision by the Political Honours Scrutiny Committee to award Tory party treasurer Michael Ashcroft a strings-attached peerage may have been inspired by Anglia Polytechnic University. Just months after MPs' criticisms of Mr Ashcroft's business affairs in Belize led to the initial rejection of his peerage, the university awarded Mr Ashcroft an honorary doctorate. It will also shortly announce the establishment of a business school, funded by alumnus Mr Ashcroft.