Did CBI’s new boss write ‘no money’ note?

AS the new director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, tony Danker will be a key figure as the Government targets signing a new trade deal with the EU by the end of the year.

No surprise then that the CBI, which opposed Brexit, has appointed a man who is an arch Remainer.

Danker, 48, who takes up his post in November, is currently working for the Be the Business quango. Prior to that, he was chief strategy officer for the Guardian, which is no friend of the tory Government, let alone Brexit.

But what is even more interesting was his role as a paid employee of the last Labour government. Danker was special adviser to Liam Byrne when he was Cabinet Office minister in Gordon Brown’s administration. When Byrne became Chief secretary to the treasury, Danker followed him there to advise on policy matters.

Presumably, he agreed with Labour’s reckless spending spree which ended with Byrne leaving behind a now infamous letter for his successor in the Coalition government, which said: ‘Very sorry. I’m afraid there is no money left. Good luck.’

Perhaps he even wrote it. I think we should be told.

‘Life’s too short to deal with horrible people,’ Tim Davie told a Cannes TV conference in 2018. ‘it’s just not worth it, don’t spend time with those jerks. Work with people you like.’ Now that Davie has secured the top job at the BBC, we can presumably expect a clear-out of Herculean proportions.