Two men who tarnish our trust in democracy
WHEN she became Prime Minister eight months ago, Theresa May promised to lead a government that ‘fights injustice’, stands up to privilege and is driven by the interests of families who are ‘just about managing’.
Also, she signalled a welcome end to the spin and manipulation of the Blair/ Cameron years.
However, these noble aims and values have been badly damaged this week by Chancellor Philip Hammond and his predecessor, George Osborne.
First, there was Hammond’s blundering attack on the self- employed. And then a shameless Osborne was revealed to be lining his pockets by earning £650,000 from a oneday-a-week job with an investment firm he had frequent dealings with while in office and where he is now working alongside his former No 11 chief of staff, Rupert Harrison.
While Hammond’s tax grab on the selfemployed showed a crass misunderstanding of the Tories’ core, aspirational supporters, Osborne’s greed exposed an offensive arrogance and sense of entitlement.
If only for the sake of her own reputation, Mrs May must come down on both men like a ton of bricks.
Before discussing Hammond, I want to deal at some length with Osborne.
His behaviour risks inflicting huge damage not just on what remains of his own tarnished image, but, more importantly, on the reputation of the Conservative Party.
On a broader level, Osborne’s determination to use public service as a means of selfenrichment erodes trust in the political process and, ultimately, democracy.
Like the stealth taxes he introduced as Chancellor, news of Osborne’s fat-cat City job was slipped out on Wednesday when the headlines were expected to concentrate on the Budget.
HIS EMPLOYER, the £4.2 trillion New York-based investment firm BlackRock, will pay him a grotesque £13,000 a day. But that is not all. When speeches and other income are taken into account, the backbench MP is on the equivalent of about £1.6 million a year over and above his £74,000 parliamentary salary.
This is not just wrong. It is morally repulsive.
Let’s not forget that Osborne represents the Cheshire constituency of Tatton and 67,000 voters.
Incidentally, he first won the seat in 2001. The previous Tory MP was Neil Hamilton, who was forced to resign after being exposed for taking money in brown envelopes from then Harrods boss Mohamed Fayed in the notorious ‘cash-for-questions’ scandal.
Voters deemed Hamilton’s conduct so objectionable it was one reason why the Tories were frozen out of power for 13 years.
To my mind, it is no exaggeration to say Osborne’s behaviour is every bit as repugnant as Hamilton’s. Indeed, I believe it is
more damaging because Osborne held a much more senior post.
I have always accepted that MPs should be allowed to take jobs outside Westminster. The experience gives them a better insight into the wider world and can make them better politicians.
But Osborne is sending out the appalling message that former ministers are for hire.
Bear in mind that as Chancellor he was responsible for the financial sector. It’s a case of gamekeeper turning poacher.
Significantly, when he ran the Treasury, he allowed to continue a spiv culture that had been encouraged by his Labour predecessors where City regulation was insufficiently tough.
This had led to the great crash of 2008. Yet Osborne failed to learn the lesson. Under his watch, shockingly, there were very few prosecutions of bankers responsible for causing the greatest financial crisis since the Thirties.
Other Osborne policies included cutting the tax rate for top-earners at a time when the rest of the nation were enduring austerity.
How apt, then, that the unrepentant financial sector is looking after Osborne and is filling his pockets with £1.6 million. How horribly cosy.
With an effrontery that takes the breath away, the tainted ex-Chancellor refuses to apologise.
It’s time for Theresa May to stop this sordid merry-go-round. She must tell Osborne his conduct is starting to remind the public of the contempt it held for the Tories 20 years ago.
She should recommend he hands over his £1.6 million to charity. Then he should be told to devote more time to his constituents (who, in any case, only rarely saw him during his six years as Chancellor and deserve better now he’s on the backbenches).
If he refuses, he should be suspended from the party.
And now to Philip Hammond. I can’t recall a Chancellor who has proved such a disappointment so soon after taking office.
His decision to clobber the selfemployed is not just political madness. It also damages Mrs May’s carefully honed reputation for straight- dealing, since the Tories have repeatedly, since 2010, promised not to increase National Insurance contributions.
Mrs May’s only sensible course is to order Hammond, a former Osborne protege, to reassure the self-employed, whose life is tough as it is, that his sly, disingenuous plan will not go ahead.
Otherwise she will allow the public to think that a Conservative government breaks promises and can’t be trusted. Also that it is no longer in touch with its natural support base.
The great danger is that by condoning a money-grubbing ex-Chancellor and letting his millionaire successor penalise workers who constitute the backbone of Britain plc, Mrs May risks allowing people to think the Tories are turning into the ‘nasty party’.
THAT’S the tag she used when she fought to rescue the reputation of the Conservatives during the Blair era.
There is another problem facing the PM that is a legacy of Osborne. His appointment as governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, is guilty of lax management of this great institution.
Specifically, his deputy, Charlotte Hogg, is under huge pressure after it came to light that she failed to disclose that her brother has a senior job in strategy at Barclays, which is regulated by the Bank of England.
Theresa May’s integrity is beyond reproach. But the great fear is that she will be dragged into the mire if a culture of greed and arrogance starts to takes hold under her premiership.
Millions of voters would cheer from the rooftops if she disciplined George Osborne, forced Philip Hammond to eat humble pie and made clear that trust — something that has been tarnished for too long in politics — is valued above everything else in her Government.