Eric Pickles’s Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACoBA) has admonished two former ministers for taking on second jobs without first consulting the committee, as per the official ministerial rules. According to the anti-corruption watchdog, both Stephen Hammond and George Freeman failed to seek advice from Pickles when taking on extra roles within the two year grace period of leaving office. In terms the Wimbledon MP might understand, that’s 30-love to Pickles….

A letter written to Freeman, published last week, accuses the former transport minister of breaching the rules after taking £5,000 from Aerosol Shield Ltd in June 2020, just four months after leaving government. The notoriously wet MP was reminded the “rules exist to protect the integrity of government”

Ultra Remainer Stephen Hammond, who lost the whip in 2019, got an even bigger bollocking from the committee last night for failing to seek their advice before taking a £100-an-hour job with think tank Public Policy Projects. According to Pickles’s letter:

“The Committee regards it as unacceptable you did not seek advice as you were required to for your original role with PPP. This is a breach of the Government’s Rules, and the requirement set out in the Ministerial Code.”

Conversely, Former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith set an example to Hammond and Freeman this morning, getting permission to take up a new role at Simply Blue Management Ltd. after consulting the committee in line with the rules. Lining your pockets is a bureaucracy-laden business these days…