Rishi Sunak has announced that he won’t be investigating whether Suella Braverman broke the Ministerial Code by trying to get civil servants to arrange a private speed awareness course after she was caught speeding.
She didn’t want to mix with the hoi polloi, it seems.
Here’s how the BBC reported the story, a discussion of it from Politics Live, and how Labour leader Keir Starmer referred to it during Prime Minister’s Questions.
ALL of these segments feature commentators getting festive at Braverman’s expense and are therefore well worth watching!
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Akshata Murty and her husband, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak: has she been using her connection with a leading UK politician to gain advantages for her firms? Is she now losing support after Sunak fell under investigation for a possible conflict of interest? Or is it all just coincidental?
A firm connected to Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty has lost a fortune on the stock exchange.
The losses are being reported on the day an investigation was launched into whether Sunak failed to correctly report a conflict of interest; Ms Murty is a shareholder in a firm that will profit from a Budget incentive to recruit childminders.
It seems another of her investments that made the headlines because of government policy has taken a major loss on the stock market.
Remember Infosys, the company that carried on trading in Russia after the government sanctioned such firms?
Infosys claimed in April last year that it was closing its office in Russia – providing a lucky escape for the then-Chancellor, who had refused to take any action about the company’s continued commercial interest in a country that the UK should have been shunning.
Then – exactly a month ago – we discovered that Infosys was still operating in Russia, eight months after it said it would withdraw, and had been given a £1.8 million government contract in spite of this.
So her shares, which were worth £400 million this morning, are now worth £351 million – in a company for which, like Koru Kids, Sunak broke – or at least seriously bent – government rules.
Had she been using her connection with a leading UK politician to gain advantages for her firms? Is she now losing support after Sunak fell under investigation for a possible conflict of interest?
Or is it a coincidence? It will be interesting to find out.
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Partners in (the) climb: Akshata Murty and her husband, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak.
UK prime minister Rishi Sunak is facing investigation over whether he properly declared his wife’s interest in a childcare agency that may benefit from a new policy announced in the spring Budget.
Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty is listed as a shareholder in Koru Kids, a childcare agency that is likely to benefit from a pilot scheme offered by Jeremy Hunt to incentivise people to become childminders, with £1,200 offered to those who train to become one through an agency.
It is believed that he is being investigated over whether a declaration of interest in this organisation was “open and frank”, under rules set out by the commissioner for standards.
This Site has discussed the situation previously, here. It seems the authorities got around the question of Sunak having to grant permission to be investigated by the independent adviser on ministerial interests (Laurie Magnus) by handing it to the standards commissioner (Daniel Greenberg).
This Writer doubts the investigation will lead to any great censure of Sunak.
The initiative to encourage people to become childminders may very well benefit children and carers alike – because it is calculated to bring more people into the job market, which is what the Tories want.
Ms Murty is not the only business boss who will benefit from it, and indeed Koru Kids is not her only business interest, so it can hardly be argued that the policy was introduced purely as a money-spinner for the prime minister and his family.
Still, he did fail to declare his interest to the Commons Liaison committee when asked, and not only should he be made to apologise and correct the record, but he should also take steps to ensure that every other government minister knows they have an obligation to list their own interests correctly, at appropriate times.
But what will happen next? Keep watching this space…
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In trouble again: Matt Hancock is facing an investigation by Parliament’s Commissioner for Standards, over his reaction to an investigation by Parliament’s Commissioner for Standards.
This is totally reprehensible – but it made me laugh – from Professor Tim Wilson:
Yes, once again it’s comedy time with Matt Hancock.
According to The Guardian,
The former health secretary is being looked into over allegations that he broke the MPs’ code of conduct by “lobbying the commissioner in a manner calculated or intended to influence his consideration” of whether a separate breach had been committed. It is a new offence that was added to the latest version of the code, endorsed by MPs in December 2022.
Meanwhile, the Blackpool South MP, Scott Benton, is being investigated over the use of his parliamentary email. It comes a week after Benton was caught offering to lobby ministers and obtain early access to a sensitive government report for up to £4,000 a month.
Henry Smith, a backbench Tory MP for 13 years, is also being investigated for an alleged breach of the rules on using taxpayer-funded stationery.
Hancock is said to be “surprised” at being investigated.
According to a spokesperson,
“Far from lobbying the commissioner, Matt wrote to Greenberg in good faith to offer some additional evidence that he thought was not only pertinent but helpful for an inquiry the parliamentary commissioner for standards is currently conducting.
“It’s clearly a misunderstanding and Matt looks forward to fully engaging with the commissioner to clear this up.”
That depends on one’s point of view, I expect.
Matt Hancock’s “additional evidence” may well be “lobbying” to “influence” the new Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Daniel Greenberg, who has replaced Kathryn Stone – as far as Mr Greenberg is concerned.
This Writer is certainly looking forward to the next episode of the Matt Hancock story. Aren’t you?
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Hancock shock: he was the only MP interviewed by Led By Donkeys’ fake firm who actually pointed out that he had a responsibility to his constituents.
This took me a little by surprise. The last three Led By Donkeys video films about MPs trying to get an extra job with a fake foreign firm, ignoring the plight of their poverty-stricken constituents, have been released over the last 24 hours.
Here they are. Firstly, Tory Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond, who already has two extra jobs that make as much money for him as his Parliamentary salary. The (relatively recent) saying is true: money isn’t earned any more – it is a commodity that may be demanded in greater or lesser amounts according to circumstances…
Here’s the clip:
It’s fascinating how he talks about his price range being at the lower end of the scale suggested – then he readily agrees to suggest remuneration at the middle-to-top end of the scale.
Next up: Sir Gavin Williamson, who left his last Tory government job under a cloud of bullying accusations:
Interestingly, he at least took a more sceptical attitude toward the fake company, seeking to establish that it was bona fide. But he still joined a Zoom call to discuss the fake job being offered to him.
And when he found out the firm wanted to meet government ministers, he made his excuses and hung up. It seems he did not want to be involved with an organisation that may seek to influence government policy.
It provides a curious footnote to Williamson’s career. After years on the wrong side of the headlines, he suddenly did the right thing.
That being said, and as with all the other Tories, the well-being of his constituents still took second place to his own comfort as he has since taken a second job with an education firm, for which he takes £50,000 per year.
Finally: Matt Hancock – described by Led By Donkey’s as an independent MP, having lost the Tory whip due to his appearance on TV’s I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, and by a commenter on the video clip as the kind of person you have to admire: “Imagine waking up as Matt Hancock every morning and not simply throwing yourself into the ocean.”
He was interviewed in the week his damning WhatsApp conversations about the Covid-19 crisis were publicised in the press, and announced he would be standing down as an MP at the next election.
He still seemed to have time to discuss a second job with a foreign firm – although, let’s be fair: he was the only MP in the Led By Donkeys investigation who mentioned any responsibility to his constituents at all.
And, again, he stressed he’d stick to Parliamentary rules about meetings with government ministers.
Surprisingly, Led By Donkeys did not sum up their findings at all.
Well, I have a few – and here they are:
Firstly, it is clear that all five of the MPs who interviewed for the fake job were quite happy to have such a position alongside their work as MPs and for their constituents; they all wanted to get on the gravy train.
Four of them had no concerns about security – doesn’t that make them security risks?
Three of them did not have apparent concerns about being used as conduits for a firm to talk to ministers. Another one, who said he could not lobby directly, said there was a way around the rules. Only one refused to have anything to do with behaviour that might be used to attempt to influence government policy. So it seems the majority were happy to help influence the government by these means.
And only one MP – possibly the one who might be least expected to do so – actually mentioned a duty to constituents.
So the intention of the investigation is proved: it seems clear that, among some MPs at least, the well-being of UK citizens comes a distant second to the opportunity to use status as an MP to rake in pots of cash.
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Here’s the current situation: Rishi Sunak has asked his (so-called) independent ethics advisor to “fully investigate” whether Nadhim Zahawi complied with the Ministerial Code in failing to make correct tax payments at the appropriate time.
This will be a big test for Sir Laurie Magnus. Smart thinkers say the purpose of an ethics advisor is to whitewash dodgy behaviour by ministers; if that doesn’t happen, if the decision goes against those in power, then the ethics advisor doesn’t last long in the post. We’ve seen that in recent years.
This is the story so far:
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Dominic Raab: he remains Justice Secretary, despite the fact that the number of accusations against him has almost tripled.
Still he remains in post, though.
With five new accusations, the number of complaints against Dominic Raab – the Justice Secretary, has risen to eight.
He denies allegations of bullying and says he has behaved professionally throughout his time as a government minister.
The three complaints already under investigation related to his time as foreign secretary and Brexit secretary, as well as at the Ministry of Justice.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said the [five new] claims related to Mr Raab’s previous tenure as justice secretary.
Labour’s Keir Starmer has called for Raab’s status as a minister (and a Conservative MP?) to be suspended. That is, after all, what would happen to a Labour Party member.
Senior lawyer Adam Tolley KC is investigating all eight complaints against Raab. He will report to Rishi Sunak, who will make the final decision on whether Raab’s conduct breached the ministerial code and should be sacked.
But we know that Tory prime ministers may abuse this duty. Boris Johnson cleared Priti Patel, despite abundant evidence against her.
And Starmer has already said it was “a consequence of having a weak prime minister” that Raab continues to serve in government while complaints about his behaviour are investigated.
Let us hope that we are told all the information we need to make up our own minds, once judgement is passed.
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An MP who was believed to have co-ordinated a series of resignations from Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet in 2016, in an effort to undermine the then-Labour leader, is now facing disciplinary proceedings under new rules.
The new procedures were brought in by current leader Keir Starmer to make Labour seem more responsive to complaints, after the party was criticised for apparently being unresponsive to allegations of anti-Semitism during Mr Corbyn’s time as leader.
It is ironic, because any lack of response had been shown to be due to foot-dragging by right-wing factionalists at Labour’s head office who were trying to drag Mr Corbyn down. Now the procedures their actions hustled in may bring down a right-wing factionalist.
It was significant because at that time he was one of Mr Corbyn’s Whips – tasked with ensuring party discipline.
Some might say he had been an unsafe choice for Mr Corbyn because he was part of a network of Blairite Labour politicians who had opposed Corbyn’s leadership of the party from the beginning.
Despite his role in the so-called ‘Chicken Coup’, McGinn did not resign for another four months, finally leaving his Corbyn-appointed role in October 2016, after a couple more very odd incidents, as described by This Site at the time:
This is the man who, in an article on PoliticsHome titled I can no longer tolerate Jeremy Corbyn’s hypocrisy, claimed fellow whips had told him the Labour leader had threatened to telephone his father, a former Sinn Fein councillor, over comments made by Mr McGinn (Jr) in an interview.
It very quickly transpired that none of his allegations are substantiated by factual evidence. There is no record of the content of the call he allegedly received from the Whips’ Office and he does not say how “it transpired” that Mr Corbyn was going to phone his dad.
Shortly afterwards, Mr McGinn was embroiled in a row with his own Constituency Labour Party members, after a group of women was excluded from a meeting to discuss a vote of confidence in Mr Corbyn.
It would appear that this group of members had been fed incorrect information about the venue for a CLP meeting; that McGinn and local councillors/delegates had conducted the meeting behind locked doors, and when questioned shrugged off members’ genuine concerns.
But in his report to the police – yes, the police – about the incident, and in a subsequent article on PoliticsHome, it seems Mr McGinn claimed that a group of thugs had ransacked his office and threatened him so severely that he required police protection.
What? I mean, that last claim was bizarre in the extreme.
Details of the allegation against McGinn have not been provided.
As he has lost the Labour whip, he will sit as an Independent MP – although one doubts that he will choose to seat himself next to fellow Independent and former Labour MP… Jeremy Corbyn.
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This is about the corrupt awarding of contracts to firms that did not supply adequate materials (in this case, Personal Protective Equipment to help with the Covid-19 crisis).
Phil Moorhouse of A Different Bias lays out the situation as it stood at midday on December 7:
Keir Starmer interrogated Rishi Sunak about this in Prime Minister’s Questions – and Sunak was pilloried for his response. Note that he confirmed that Mone “no longer has the Conservative whip”:
The sideswipe from Sunak, that Labour should “stand up for working people” – by opposing industrial action by working people who are struggling to survive in an atmosphere of real-terms pay cuts while inflation spirals out-of-control – is perverse.
It’s shameful that the UK has been reduced to having a prime minister who can’t respond naturally to questions but has to read his answers from a piece of paper.
Who’s telling him what to say about this scandal?
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Leave of absence: Lady Mone. Apparently she doesn’t turn up to the House of Lords very often and rarely votes. One is led to wonder what she considers her peerage to be for.
Tory Baroness Michelle Mone, currently at the centre of a scandal over a £29 million payout by a firm said to have provided duff PPE to the government during the Covid-19 crisis, has taken a leave of absence from the House of Lords.
Watch this article on YouTube:
Mone says she has been unjustly accused of taking £29 million from a Personal Protective Equipment manufacturer in thanks for her recommending its products in the “VIP lane” for firms fast-tracked by politicians or officials.
Not only has the “VIP lane” since been branded illegal, but it has been claimed that much of the gear from PPE Medpro didn’t meet the standard.
She says she is leaving to clear her name. Her choice coincides with efforts by the Labour Party to force the publication of texts and emails relating to £200m of Covid PPE contracts secured by PPE MedPro, a company linked to the Tory peer.
And it follows accusations from former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who said had sent him an “aggressive and threatening” email in June 2021, demanding his “urgent help” to secure a government contract for a firm that he did not name.
In his book Pandemic Diaries, which is currently being serialised by a newspaper, he wrote: ”
Baroness Michelle Mone has sent me an extraordinarily aggressive email complaining that a company she’s helping isn’t getting the multi-million-pound contracts it deserves.
She claims the firm, which makes lateral flow test kits, ‘has had a dreadful time’ trying to cut through red tape and demanded my ‘urgent help’ before it all comes out in the media.
‘I am going to blow this all wide open,’ she threatened.
I won’t be pushed around by aggressive peers representing commercial clients.
That’s pretty damning stuff!
Hancock has claimed that Mone was actively and aggressively trying to secure contracts for “commercial clients” – which implies a business relationship, so he believed Mone was being (or would be) paid by this firm for her efforts to win contracts for it.
That is precisely what the accusation against her entails and I hope he provides any evidence he has to any investigation.
And Mone has taken a leave of absence at this time. I wonder if she’ll ever come back.
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