14Esther McVey

The Northern Powerhouse

THREE million euros in an assortment of suitcases, holdalls and shopping bags – Fortnum & Mason’s if we’re to believe the gossip – for his charity doesn’t sit right with me. Whichever way you view it, Prince Charles accepting cash in a carrier bag from a Qatari politician has a decidedly bad whiff about it.

While all the statements from the palace say nothing illegal happened (nothing to look at here, guv – or words to that effect) and all procedures were followed, officials must have thought the cash transfer unusual to say the least. Surely some eyebrows, not just mine, must have been raised?

There’s so much about this story that remains unanswered.Why did Charles accept cash from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber alThani? Why didn’t the sheikh do a Bacs transfer? Surely that would have been easier than lugging a million euros across town on three separate occasions. Exactly how big does a bag need to be to hold a million euros? Was the money requested in cash?

We’re also told two of Charles’ advisers hand-counted the money – how long did that take? And once counted, it is believed palace aids asked Coutts to collect the money.

A quick question: have you ever tried to hand cash into a bank? It isn’t that easy. £6,500 is deemed a “large cash deposit” that raises red flags and invariably a Spanish Inquisition. The FCA website says cash is a high-risk asset in financial crimes, and the Government’s money laundering regulations require banks to ask for the source of any large deposit.

This money came from a former Prime Minister of Qatar, so you might guess it came from overseas, but you can’t bring more than £10,000 in cash into or out of the country without declaring it.

Just as an aside, when I lost my seat and was no longer a minister or an MP, and I was trying to set up a business, because I was deemed “politically exposed” I was refused a bank account altogether. Red flags came up next to my name as someone who had worked in politics. And yet, here we have millions stuffed into suitcases being accepted by the banks with no problem at all.

What on earth were they all thinking?