Skills Minister Jacqui Smith lent some lukewarm support to Richard Hermer on LBC this morning after yesterday’s robust comments from Labour peer Maurice Glasman:
“One of the things about the House of Lords is that people don’t tend to sort of get into scraps like that. But Lord Hermer can look after himself. He’s the Attorney General of the government. His job is to provide the sort of legal backing and advice for ministers like me to get on with my job. And I think we’ll all be doing that today.”
Yesterday afternoon Downing Street refused to say Hermer would be in post at the next election, saying they are “obviously not going to get into going through every member of the Cabinet.” Briefings against the Attorney General from inside government are beginning to ramp up…
Downing Street has guaranteed the positions of David Lammy and Rachel Reeves for the duration of the parliament when they were subject to press attention. No such protection for Starmer’s mate…
As the United States ‘gets real’ about which states are on its side and which aren’t Guido has revealed that Hermer doesn’t even believe the Special Relationship exists. With Starmer leaving the door open for a future sacking the view of some insiders is that ‘unbearable‘ Hermer is not long for the SW1 world…
Some eyebrows have been raised recently at the effectiveness of Downing Street’s media operation. Guido hears from inside No 10 there is some disquiet at Director of Communications Matthew Doyle’s handling of events…
Seasoned veteran James Lyons was brought in as Director of Strategic Communications last October in a shake-up. It was Lyons who was present at the meeting last week at which Tulip Siddiq was told to refer herself to Laurie Magnus…
Doyle received his fair share of negative briefing from advisers during Starmer’s difficult first 100 days. Now there is speculation about Lyons being moved up the chain of command in the future. One Downing Street source tells Guido Doyle is “widely seen by the new seniors in Number 10 as out of his depth.” That said, other sources rallied to defend him and suggested those briefings are wrong and getting ahead of themselves. Whatever the situation, it’s clearly not happy families…
Tulip’s letter to the PM:
“Dear Prime Minister,
Thank you for the confidence you have shown in me in recent weeks.
I am grateful to your Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards Sir Laurie Magnus for acting with speed and thoroughness in response to my self-referral, and for giving me the opportunity to share the full details of my finances and living arrangements, both present and historic.
As you know, having conducted an in-depth review of the matter at my request, Sir Laurie has confirmed that I have not breached the Ministerial Code. As he notes, there is no evidence to suggest that I have acted improperly in relation to the properties I have owned or lived in, nor to suggest that any of my assets “derive from anything other than legitimate means.
My family connections are a matter of public record, and when I became a Minister I provided the full details of my relationships and private interests to the Government. After extensive consultation with officials, I was advised to state in my declaration of interests that my aunt is the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh and to recuse myself from matters relating to Bangladesh to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest. I want to assure you that I acted and have continued to act with full transparency and on the advice of officials on these matters.
However, it is clear that continuing in my role as Economic Secretary to the Treasury is likely to be a distraction from the work of the Government. My loyalty is and always will be to this Labour Government and the programme of national renewal and transformation it has embarked upon. I have therefore decided to resign from my Ministerial position.
I would like to thank you for the privilege of serving in your Government, which I will continue to support in any way I can from the backbenches.”
Tulip withered…
Starmer’s letter back:
“Dear Tulip,
Thank you for your letter. It is with sadness I accept your resignation from your Ministerial role.
I want to thank you for your commitment during your time as Economic Secretary to the Treasury including spearheading the rollout of Banking Hubs and opening our 100th site, leading our thinking on financial inclusion, and contributing to the success of the Chancellor’s first Mansion House speech.
In accepting your resignation, I also wish to be clear that Sir Laurie Magnus as Independent Adviser has assured me he found no breach of the Ministerial Code and no evidence of financial improprieties on your part. I want to thank you for self-referring to the Independent Adviser and for your full co-operation with the establishment of facts.
I appreciate that to end ongoing distraction from delivering our agenda to change Britain, you have made a difficult decision and want to be clear that the door remains open for you going forward.”
Emma Reynolds is now Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Torsten Bell is now a Parliamentary Secretary in HM Treasury and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Work and Pensions.
Laurie Magnus’ letter can be read by co-conspirators below, though here is the key passage:
“Given the nature of Ms Siddiq’s ministerial responsibilities, which include the promotion of the UK financial services sector and the inherent probity of its regulatory framework as a core component of the UK economy and its growth, it is regrettable that she was not more alert to the potential reputational risks – both to her and the Government – arising from her close family’s association with Bangladesh. I would not advise that this shortcoming should be taken as a breach of the Ministerial Code, but you will want to consider her ongoing responsibilities in the light of this.”
Continue reading “Tulip Siddiq Resigns as Treasury Minister”
Guido hears there is significant disquiet in Downing Street when it comes to Siddiq. A Downing Street source tells Guido: “We all think she’s toast. The PM is too close to her for his own good.” As shown just now…
There is a lot of incredulity at the heart of government as to Tulip’s explanations for her visit to Moscow where she was pictured with Putin and the provenance of properties which she has owned or in which she has lived. This is to such an extent that a meeting was held on Monday with the Cabinet Office Propriety and Ethics head Darren Tierney, No 10 political director Claire Reynolds, strategic communications head James Lyons, and Siddiq. Tulip was told at the meeting that if she did not refer herself to standards watchdog Laurie Magnus, she would be referred anyway…
Later that morning Starmer would announce the ‘self-referral.’ The weekend before Downing Street officials began to shortlist replacements for the city minister. Siddiq has issued multiple statements denying any wrongdoing. Time is running out for Tulip…
The Times is told that senior Downing Street officials prepared a list of candiates for Tulip Siddiq’s replacement over last weekend, before she referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial interests:
This is broadly a list of McSweeneyite allies and likely to cause less of a headache. Sources in Dhaka express their incredulity to Guido that Siddiq was ever hired in the first place considering her closeness to aunt Hasina…
Tulip is on the brink – Guido revealed this week that Bangladesh has demanded City minister Siddiq’s bank accounts and transaction history after the Anti-Corruption Commission initiated an investigation in mid-December. She is off the list for Reeves’ vanity trip to China in order to help with Laurie Magnus’ ‘fact-finding‘ investigation. At least someone’s here to try to calm the bond markets…
As Haigh’s resignation continues to dominate SW1, Sky News, who ran the first fraud conviction story, notes that “allies of the former transport secretary detect the hand of Morgan McSweeney, the prime minister’s chief of staff, in her very swift downfall.” The McIavelli…
Downing Street refused to say how much Morgan would be paid when he took Sue Gray’s job – for which she famously demanded more than the PM at £170,000. Ministers still won’t say what the exact figure is but they have now clarified that “senior pay control processes were followed and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury provided salary approval.” Darren Jones has got involved…
The rules state that the Chief Secretary to the Treasury “must approve the remuneration when an appointment will attract: i) total remuneration at or above the defined threshold of £150,000, or the pro-rata equivalent for part-time staff, or ii) performance related pay (‘bonus’) arrangements that exceed the threshold of £17,500.” That means McSweeney isn’t doing too badly in comparison to sacked Sue. When Guido put it to Cabinet Office and Downing Street, they refused to comment. Guido’s guessing Morgan hasn’t gone above the PM…
UPDATE: Guido understands Morgan is paid less than sacked Sue and the PM. That means he’s on between £150,000 and £166,786…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”