What an odd time to take a shine to Golden Gerry
A REMARKABLY t i med intervention from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. The think-tank loudly predicted economic doom if Britain shunned Huawei, just hours before Ministers pulled the plug on the controversial Chinese tech giant. A coincidence that their major sponsor is the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, I am sure.
AS BORIS Johnson continues to infuriate the Chinese Communist Party with a new-found hard line on Beijing over Covid, Huawei and Hong Kong, eyebrows are being raised at his choice of a new Minister in the Lords.
Gerry Grimstone, below right, who was signed up as unpaid Investment Minister, is one of China’s biggest cheerleaders. The former boss of
Barclays bank has boasted that he’s been to China ‘200 times, I go there once a month’.
Before his appointment he warned anti-Beijing protesters in an interview with the state-backed China Daily: ‘Hong Kong people should ask themselves a question: What is Hong Kong without China?’ He also said violent protests against Chinese rule were ‘utterly unacceptable’ and appeared to defend an authoritarian clampdown by the regime, asking: ‘How would British police respond if petrol bombs were thrown at them?’ And in 2018 he heaped praise on President Xi Jinping’s leadership style, saying: ‘The fact that Xi is prepared to give such strong authoritarian guidance within the context of a market economy is great for companies like mine.’ With t he e nd o f t he so- called golden era of relations with China, it is no wonder Baron Grimstone has earned the nickname ‘Golden Gerry’ i n Whi t e h a l l circles.
TORY bigwigs warned that cancelling Party Conference because of Covid would incur a multi-millionpound loss. But now there are plans to resurrect a money-spinning gathering this autumn after all. Tin-shakers want to charge Boris fans a tenner to tune in to speeches online. My tip: relive the full conference experience by turning up the heating at home and drinking copious glasses of warm white wine.