The hard-left of the Labour party have spent four days going doolally over Sajid Javid’s appointment, not least because he’s one of the many brown Tories who didn’t need Corbyn to help him “unlock” his potential. He’s also had the audacity to take up other paid work after stepping away from No. 11 last year, including a £150,000-a-year job at J.P. Morgan and another £150,000-a-year job at C3.ai in California. Yesterday Richard Burgon attacked Sajid over his jobs in the Commons, and this morning Corbyn tweeted:
Can Sajid Javid confirm he will resign from his extra-parliamentary role as an advisor to JP Morgan or that he intends to do so at the earliest opportunity to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest as he takes on the role as guardian of the NHS?
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) June 29, 2021
Perhaps Jeremy could have been bothered to do some research. A quick inquiry to department sources by Guido confirms Sajid “resigned from everything on day one”, as per standard ministerial protocol.
Zarah Sultana has also been attacking Sajid constantly since his appointment, with multiple tweets about his J.P. Morgan job, and implying this will finally pave the way for the privatisation of the NHS. As Guido pointed out in April however, far from being in his employer’s pocket, Sajid was more than keen to slam the European Super League, despite them being back by the US investment bank. J.P. Morgan might be even more glad than Corbyn that outspoken, independent-minded Saj has stepped down…