all for one and one for all
In the early days of lockdown, Robert Jenrick, UK Communities Secretary, broke the rules and visited his parents. Furthermore, he then admitted he’d travelled in direct contravention to all the guidelines between several of his houses, including a Grade One listed Manor House in Hertfordshire. Not quite ‘doing a Dominic’ I concede but you certainly get the picture. They both stayed in post.
Next, Bobby J is sitting with ex-newspaper magnate, Richard Desmond, at a Tory fundraiser, discreetly watching his slick property development vid before directly intervening in the planning process and overruling both the Local Authority and government’s own planning inspectorate’s previous decision with a BIG FAT YES. Richard’s so pleased he donates £12,000 to the party. My, how he must’ve have felt when the ruling was finally reversed in court and our Communities Secretary accepted his actions were entirely ‘unlawful’. I only hope Dickie kept the receipt. Exchanging private messages in the days following the dinner didn’t look great but Mr Jenrick calmly reassured us there had been “no bias whatsoever”. Nothing to see here, please move on and, yes, he remained in post.
However, it must have been a learning experience for Jenrick as it transpires he then applied twice for planning permission on his conservation-area sited central London townhouse. Sadly declined on both occasions it took a further application, made under his wife’s name, before being finally passed. After being initially refused, again, for the third time, a Conservative councillor neighbour intervened and referred it to an additional planning committee, which mercifully approved the plans. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again and twist the arms of those available. Being on our small screens daily confirms he remains in post.
Our Home Secretary, the Pritster, is a bully. Having been found guilty of breaching the ministerial code her defence was she hadn’t noticed she was doing it. Sir Alex Allan begged to differ and fell on his sword. Let’s not forget Priti Patel is a repeat offender, previously being sacked by the MayBot for a series of unauthorised and unpublished meetings with the Israeli government. This time around she stayed in post.
And now we hear that the Chancellor, Superman Sunak, our man with his finger on the pulse of finance, has failed to declare a huge number of shares and incomprehensible wealth in the ministerial register of assets and earnings. Bound by the ministerial code, it requires him to explicitly declare any financial interests of his own, his siblings, spouse, parents and in-laws, that are ‘relevant’ to his responsibilities. The apparent amnesia caused Sir Alistair Graham, former Public Standards chair, to exclaim “He seems to have taken the most minimalist approach to this requirement. Perhaps Rishi Sunak should read the seven principles of public life to ensure he is fulfilling ‘honesty and leadership”. WTF.
Remembering to declare his wife’s ownership of Catamaran Ventures and his own blind trust secured from her wealth, it was only her £430,000,000.00 stake in her father’s £1.7bn Infosys (a company that enjoys £22m of public contracts), a £900m-a-year joint venture with Amazon, and five other separate companies that slipped his mind. Poor soul, he’s had a lot on his plate of late. Needless to say, both he and the missus have yet to respond to requests for comment. Call me cynical but my money’s on him staying in post.
Boris Johnson sees one rule for himself and his gang and another for the rest of us. His inability to do the right thing at the right time erodes our trust in democracy and honesty in public life.
