OPINION & LEO McKINSTRY:
THE WHITEHALL lobbying scandal engulfing David Cameron is serious enough. Centred on the former prime minister’s links to the collapsed finance company Greensill, this grubby affair has led to a flood of allegations about privileged access for commercial interests.
But the Government’s critics are now in danger of badly over-reaching themselves. In their eagerness to score political points, they have started to invent wild charges and concoct baseless conspiracies. Far from seeking the truth, they are descending to ugly smears.
That was clear from the twist in the lobbying saga that filled the airwaves yesterday.With illcontained glee, the BBC turned its partisan glare on revelations about Boris Johnson’s contacts with industrialist Sir James Dyson in the early stages of the pandemic last year.
At the time, the Government was deeply concerned about the limited stock of ventilators, estimating that another 20,000 were urgently needed.
So the call went out in March 2020 to British businesses to take part in a “national effort” to increase the supply, with the initiative given the title of “the Ventilator Challenge”.
ONE of those who responded was Sir James, the renowned entrepreneur whose global firm has bases in Singapore as well as Britain. “We are ready,” he told the Prime Minister by text.
But Sir James feared his overseas staff might be penalised by extra taxes from HM Revenue and Customs if they were required to work for a significant period in Britain. He therefore sought an assurance from the Treasury that all non-resident employees in the challenge would be financially protected.
Having received no answer, he texted Mr Johnson, who, in his inimitable style, promised to “fix it”, adding “we need you here”.
Sir James thanked the Prime Minister and said his company “will give the ventilator our all”. Soon afterwards, the tax problem was resolved when the Government introduced temporary rules whereby overseas workers, engaged specifically on Covid projects, would not be hammered by British tax bills.
Crucially those rules were openly debated and agreed by the Commons. Rather than a reason for any embarrassment, the conduct of both Sir James and the Government was commendable. The real scandal would have arisen if Sir James did nothing or the Government had stuck rigidly to pre-Covid tax rules. As in war, it was a time for creativity, innovation and flexibility to save lives.
In this spirit, the initiative turned out to be an enormous success, providing the requisite number of devices in a remarkably short period. But egged on by the BBC’s overblown coverage, the Labour Party pretends this episode is a new “jaw-dropping” low in Tory cronyism.
“Boris Johnson is now front and centre of the biggest lobbying scandal in a generation,” screeched a Labour representative yesterday.
“Sleaze, sleaze, sleaze,” said Sir Keir at Prime Minister’s Questions.
All this is nothing more than opportunistic claptrap, fake news at its very worst. Disgracefully, Sir James is under fire for trying to help his country, while the Government is attacked for its urgency in cutting through fiscal bureaucracy.
There was no private gain involved whatsoever.
AS SIR JAMES points out, his company “voluntarily covered the £20million development costs”, receiving not “one penny” from the Government.
Nor was there any favouritism to Dyson, for the emergency tax rules covered all nonresident professionals needed in the emergency, like doctors, engineers and scientists.
Labour’s stance is the height of hypocrisy. It now wallows in confected outrage, yet last year was full of praise for the initiative. Sir Keir described it as “an example of how UK manufacturers, a world-class workforce and the trade unions, have come together to provide our NHS with the vital equipment it urgently needs. Well done to everyone involved”. That tribute must logically have included the PM as its architect.
Labour’s hypocrisy can also be seen on a deeper level. The party’s MPs now pose as the champions of puritanical rectitude, yet in reality they are in thrall to vested interests.
Largely bankrolled by the trade unions, their movement has a symbiotic relationship with a host of progressive lobby groups and think tanks.
Yesterday, the Shadow Business Minister Lucy Powell proclaimed of the saga, “Frankly it stinks.” But the truly foul smell emanates from her party’s cynicism and double standards.
‘This is opportunistic claptrap, fake news at its very worst’