Chancellor’s choice for Bank role has ‘no economic experience’
‘Woke ex-mandarin’ Dame Clare Moriarty put forward for Threadneedle Street post by Nadhim Zahawi
A FORMER mandarin with “no economic experience” is on course to be appointed to the Bank of England’s court of directors after civil servants told the Chancellor that she would “make a strong contribution to improving diversity and inclusion” at the Bank.
Dame Clare Moriarty, a former permanent secretary of the environment department, has been selected by Nadhim Zahawi, having been lined up by the Treasury during Rishi Sunak’s time as chancellor.
But a government source criticised the decision to put Dame Clare forward for the role amid the growing cost of living crisis and pressure over the Bank’s handling of inflation.
On Friday, Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, warned that “something has gone wrong” at Threadneedle Street, and, writing in this newspaper, Liz Truss says that the spike in inflation was “exacerbated by monetary policy”.
The government source said: “Appointing a woke ex-mandarin with no economic experience and whose first priority is diversity and inclusion to a pivotal post at the Bank of England would be reckless in the best of times.
“Any Conservative chancellor who believes this appointment would strengthen the Bank’s response to rampant inflation is asking for their own P45.”
The Sunday Telegraph understands that Mr Zahawi’s formal recommendation of Dame Clare, who is now chief executive of Citizens Advice, states that the recruitment panel “thought she would make a strong contribution to improving diversity and inclusion at the Bank, given her insightful answers on how she would drive this forward.”
The panel was chaired by Sir Tom Scholar, the Treasury’s permanent secretary, and comprised Charles Roxburgh, his deputy, Baroness Harding, a Tory peer and non-executive director at the Bank, and Terry Miller, a senior figure at Goldman Sachs.
Mr Sunak has been accused of being “captured” by the advice of officials, including Sir Tom, during his time at the Treasury.
Mr Zahawi’s formal recommendation has been submitted by the Treasury to No10. A source said it had not yet been formally put to Mr Johnson.
The document, which says vetting of Dame Clare was carried out by officials and former Treasury special advisers, added: “The panel thought Dame Moriarty was a strong candidate due to her excellent interpersonal skills, ability to engender trust in staff and stakeholders and her passion for operational change.”
Dame Clare is said to have carried out a review of the Bank’s “central services”, which includes its human resources and technology divisions, last year, when she “demonstrated her ability to work effectively” with senior figures.
Dame Clare describes herself on Twitter as “agitating for diversity, inclusion and change”. After graduating from Oxford in 1985 she worked for the Civil Service until she left last year.
In June 2020, when this newspaper revealed “woke” guidance that urged Citizens Advice staff to educate themselves about “key concepts” such as microaggressions, privilege and toxic masculinity, Dame Clare said: “Our learning programme has been designed to help staff and volunteers build their knowledge and have open discussions about equity, diversity and inclusion.”
A Treasury source said: “We fully expect anyone appointed to be focusing on the things that really matter given the current national economic emergency.” The source insisted that the appointment had not been finalised.
A source close to Mr Sunak denied any of his special advisers carried out due diligence checks on Dame Clare.