Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has written to ACoBA Chair Lord Pickles over Boris Johnson’s minor breach of ACoBA rules over the summer, when the former PM picked up a new column in the Daily Mail. He was found to have breached the watchdog’s rules on former ministers’ appointments by seeking advice on the role half an hour before it was announced online. Even Pickles himself agreed this was a minor breach, and said the rules themselves were in need of immediate reform…
Dowden agrees, and confirmed the government will push ahead with proposals to loosen rules over media appearances:
“…the Government is minded that media appearances, books or journalism should in due course be formally exempted from the business appointment rules (whilst still maintaining duty of confidentiality requirements). This recognises also the importance of the rights to free speech within the law. This ‘minded to’ approach is therefore guiding in the assessment of appropriate steps on this particular issue.”
No further action is being taken against Boris. He’s making the rules and breaking them…
Read the full letter below:
ACoBA (Advisory Committee on Business Appointments) Chair Lord Pickles has written to Kwasi Kwarteng over his potential new role at green energy company FFI, warning the former Chancellor that his appointment as a paid ‘senior adviser’ poses “real and perceived risks” that it might “provide an unfair advantage” to the firm. Kwarteng met with FFI leaders while still in Ministerial office, although the Committee have decided his ability to offer an unfair advantage is limited… provided he accepts the following conditions:
- a waiting period of 12 months from your last day in ministerial office;
- you should not draw on (disclose or use for the benefit of yourself or the persons or organisations to which this advice refers) any privileged information available to you from your time in ministerial office;
- for two years from your last day in ministerial office, you should not become personally involved in lobbying the UK government or its arms’ length bodies on behalf of Fortescue Future Industries (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients); nor should she make use, directly or indirectly, of her contacts in the government to influence policy, secure business/funding or otherwise unfairly advantage Fortescue Future Industries (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients);
- for two years from your last day in ministerial office, you should not advise Fortescue Future Industries (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients) on the UK energy sector;
- for two years from your last day in ministerial office, you should not have any engagement on behalf of Fortescue Future Industries (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients) with the UK government or its arm’s length bodies; and
- for two years from your last day in ministerial service, you should not provide advice to Fortescue Future Industries (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients) on the terms of, or with regard to the subject matter of, a bid with, or contract relating directly to the work of the UK government or its arm’s length bodies.
Read the full letter below:
Now that the dust has settled on Matt Hancock’s jungle romp, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Dowden has written to ACoBA Chair Lord Pickles to offer the final word on the former Health Secretary’s testicle-eating rule-breaking. In a new letter published last night, Dowden agreed that Hancock had breached Business Appointment Rules by “failing to seek the Committee’s advice” before jetting off to Australia:
I agree that undertaking a series of short-term appearances on the assumption they constitute ‘one-off’ engagements should not be used as means of not complying with the Rules. It is vital that all individuals who have held Ministerial positions are seen to abide by the requirement to seek advice about any appointments or employment they wish to take up within two years of leaving office.
He did, however, add that Matt’s newfound celebrity was a low-risk gig, so similar applications to the Committee in future should be “streamlined“. Good news for any other MPs who fancy bathing in cockroaches. He signed off by saying Hancock had suffered enough, and no further punishment would be necessary…
“Due to the highly visible nature of the roles and minimal risks to the integrity of government, we agree with the Committee’s advice that further action would be disproportionate in this case.”
Hancock’s spokesperson said:
“Matt’s glad they are now changing the ACOBA rules after the total muddle they got themselves into. Matt clearly followed the rules when he went into the jungle, as any cursory glance at their website demonstrates. The idea there’s a business conflict going onto the programme is absurd. Now they’re updating the rules to make that completely clear, not a moment too soon.”
Just in time for SAS: Who Dares Wins…
Read Dowden’s full letter below:
As leopards can’t change their spots, Boris just can’t stop coming up a cropper with government standards. This morning, Guido reported that the former PM has already embarked on his post-Downing Street speaking gigs, signing up to The Premium Speakers Agency and charging $150,000 for a speech in Colorado last night. So far, so expected…
One former minister has been in touch with Guido to point out the problem with this speech: the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments. Their rules for former public figures make it very clear that anyone who leaves office must wait a minimum of three months from that date before taking up an appointment or employment. The same rules also state that while one-off speeches, broadcasts or newspaper articles don’t count as employment …
” … if applicants intend to enter into a longer term arrangement, e.g. to join a speakers’ agency, plan a series of remunerated speeches or write a regular newspaper column, they should submit an application before accepting this work.”
Unlike Boris, Theresa May left No. 10 and contacted ACoBA in September 2019 to ask about joining the Washington Speakers Bureau. Her register of interests shows that she didn’t give any paid speeches until December that year.
Guido’s peeved ex-minister asks why they should have to obey the rules if others, like Boris, can just ignore them. Eric Pickles, you have your work cut out for you…
Guido has contacted Boris’s new office putting the allegations of forgetfulness to him…
UPDATE: Sources close to Boris point out the speakers’ agency listing has now been deleted and the site has a record of putting up speakers who aren’t on their books. It remains to be seen whether he’s formally signed up to another agency, and whether he’ll be doing other well-paid speaking gigs before the three months is up…
Lord Pickles’s ACOBA has admonished former Chancellor Philip Hammond for breaking rules on post-cabinet jobs and lobbying. Last month Hammond was accused of breaching the ministerial code after lobbying one of his former senior officials on behalf of a paying client. Today Lord Pickles has published a letter to Hammond confirming it was:
“an unwise step to contact senior officials at the Treasury on OakNorth’s behalf… the use of your contacts in government in this way was not consistent with the intention of the Rules and was not acceptable.”
Remarkably, Hammond made it clear he was exploring legal action, possibly in the form of an injunct, to prevent ACoBA’s letter being published…
Hammond claimed that in contacting Charles Roxburgh, second permanent secretary at the Treasury, he was “neither seeking to influence policy, nor motivated by an attempt to secure business (or any other form of benefit)”. Pickles wryly comments he has no doubt Hammond “sincerely believed contact with your former department in this way was appropriate”.
“The Committee considers the use of your contacts in government in this way was not consistent with the intention of the Rules and was not acceptable. The material consideration is the privileged access you obtained for OakNorth not the commercial value of the proposition.”
On the same day we learn David Cameron’s still laughing all the way to the bank…
Read Lord Pickle’s letter in full below:
Eric Pickles in his capacity of Chair of ACoBA has slammed Dominic Cummings for breaking rules on post-No. 10 appointments. In a letter to Cummings last month, Pickles noted he is now offering “various services for payment via a blog hosted on Substack”, which he appears not to have consulted the committee about. Pickles told Cummings it:
“appears you may be in breach of the Rules” and was asked for clarification “so the Committee can understand the circumstances behind your apparent failure to seek and await for advice before promoting and receiving payment for your services”
Cummings was ordered to reply by the 5th July – he failed to do so.
Pickles has subsequently reported Cummings to Michael Gove in his capacity as Cabinet Office minister given Boris’s former top advisor has now broken the government’s rules by failing to provide an explanation to ACoBA. Pickles says “it is now a matter for the government to decide what appropriate action to take”…
Read Pickles’ letter to Gove in full:
