Labour threat to purge senior business advisers from Whitehall
‘Picked on their talents’
LABOUR wants to purge Whitehall of business figures brought in by the Tories to shake up the civil service.
Chuka Umunna, the party’s business spokesman, has queried the integrity of some of the commercial and industrial leaders brought in by the Coalition.
He said not all of the so-called ‘government non-executives’ may be impartial, and some recent appointments have been ‘party political gifts’.
Among the business leaders that have taken up senior Whitehall jobs are Lord Browne, the former head of BP, and Sir Ian Cheshire, former chief executive of DIY group Kingfisher.
Mr Umunna’s comments were made to the Financial Times last month, just days after more than 100 corporate figures wrote an open letter backing David Cameron. He said many of the signatories were Tory donors and revealed that Labour was looking at improving the way business figures are recruited to ensure the appointments were more objective and independent.
They are known as ‘government non-executives’, and the Cabinet Office says there are 68 of them.
Mr Umunna said: ‘Some of the appointments have the appearance of being party political appointments. There is a risk that there is politicisation – that has happened in some cases.’
His Labour colleague Lucy Powell told the FT: ‘I feel like some of these appointments have been political appointments. I think that diminishes what the value of those roles should be.’
Hinting that some of the appointments could be reconsidered if Labour wins the election, Miss Powell said business people with ‘strong political affiliations’ should not be taking up the roles.
Although she accepted that the non- execs could play an important role in improving how government works, she suggested: ‘ But I think they absolutely shouldn’t be political appointments, nor be seen to be political appointments.’
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude created the role of ‘government non-executives’ in 2010 as part of a bid to inject more business discipline into Whitehall and help find cost savings.
He said the figures must be nonparty political and picked on their talents alone. Sir Ian was recently appointed as lead non-executive, replacing Lord Browne.
A Tory source said Mr Umunna’s comments illustrated Labour’s anti-business stance.
‘We should have people with outside business experience in Whitehall,’ he said. ‘Ed Miliband has never had a proper job. He might need these people if he ever gets into power.’
Yesterday it emerged that the CBI has dropped its preferred candidate for president over claims he had aligned himself too closely to the Conservative party.
Paul Walsh, formerly of Diageo and now chairman of caterer Compass Group, was the favourite to replace Sir Mike Rake, the BT chairman who has been the business lobby group’s president since June 2013.