Labour’s cronyism row has reared its head once again. It now transpires that Sir Keir Starmer’s government failed to disclose an official’s links with the Labour lot when trying to nab her a civil service job – omitting to add the rather significant detail on important transparency forms. As Mr S wrote in August, the appointment of Emily Middleton to the Department for Science and Technology raised ‘cash for jobs’ concerns after it emerged she was a party donor, with the former businesswoman’s consultancy firm having given a whopping £66,000 to the party in the past. With Starmer’s government already struggling with the freebie fiasco, this latest development is hardly likely to help matters…
As written in Politico, documents received under a Freedom of Information request reveal that the fast-track forms used to push Middleton into the civil service role in July made no mention of the businesswoman’s links to the Labour Party, the Labour Together group or the donation made to the, er, Science Secretary Peter Kyle’s office. In fact, Middleton even worked with the then-Labour frontbencher while on secondment from her tech firm Public Digital – the same business that donated the staggering sum to Kyle’s office. Good heavens. While there is not a suggestion that rules were broken, the fact the detail was not included on the forms has certainly raised eyebrows among those familiar with civil service hiring procedure.
Yet, oddly enough, the Science Secretary was rather reticent to delve into the matter in the Commons today. When quizzed by his Tory counterpart Andrew Griffiths, the Labour man – of a government said to be interested in ‘grown up‘ politics – instead opted to, er, avoid fully answering the question.
AG: Did the Secretary of State fully disclose to the Civil Service Commission the Labour links of one of the most senior civil servant appointments, or the £66,000 donation he received?
PK: Every donation that was made to this party in opposition has been declared in the appropriate way. I’m proud to be part of a party that raises standards in public life rather than votes to lower them. And, Mr Speaker, I’m also proud to be part of a party that comes into government and attracts talent to working for it, whereas when they see talent, they libel it.
AG: Well, Mr Speaker, thanks to Whitehall Watch, we have a copy of the form. It’s clear the Secretary of State failed to mention the conflict of interest as required by the ministerial code. In the words of the Prime Minister’s favourite pop star, some would say he’s ‘Guilty As Sin’. Will he refer himself to the adviser on standards, or will we have to wait for the Prime Minister to finish organising VIP motorcades and do it for him?
Shots fired…
Watch the clip here:
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