Fuller was ushered into the corridors of power as one of the panic appointments after MPs resigned government jobs en-masse in the rush to eject Johnson from No10. Vetting procedure seems to have been less than stringent.
• paid £80,000/year by three Cayman Islands registered companies
• all three are owned by Bahrainian “alternative investment products” provider Investcorp.
• works eight hours a month for his side earnings
• received £35,000 “donations” from Investcorp co-CEO
• set up Investcorp’s tech ventures business before becoming an MP
• Investcorp “reportedly poured cash” into China spy tech
> Yet in his new role as economic secretary to the Treasury Mr Fuller is in charge of financial regulation for companies such as the ones he works for.
His Labour shadow, James Murray, finds it objectionable
> for a Treasury Minister to be benefiting from a company linked not only to tax avoidance, but also to the Chinese state-backed abuse of Uyghur Muslims.
> “The Government has serious questions to answer about why it ignored this shocking conflict of interest when putting Richard Fuller in charge of regulating financial services. Mr Fuller must urgently clarify whether he owns any stakes in offshore funds linked to Investcorp.”
This does kinda seem par for the course in modern politics. That ministers aren’t so much appointed in spite of conflicts of interest, but directly because of them. They aren’t there to represent us. There’s a kind of quaint feeling to this. Like we still think this sort of thing isn’t supposed to happen. It’s just that this government is so incompetent they can’t even disguise their corruption properly.
Is anyone surprised?
Give the Tories enough years in power and they hang themselves with their own rope.
Happened in the 80s and 90s, it’s happening again.
When a party is so utterly corrupt, it’s inevitable.
5 comments
Fuller was ushered into the corridors of power as one of the panic appointments after MPs resigned government jobs en-masse in the rush to eject Johnson from No10. Vetting procedure seems to have been less than stringent.
• paid £80,000/year by three Cayman Islands registered companies
• all three are owned by Bahrainian “alternative investment products” provider Investcorp.
• works eight hours a month for his side earnings
• received £35,000 “donations” from Investcorp co-CEO
• set up Investcorp’s tech ventures business before becoming an MP
• Investcorp “reportedly poured cash” into China spy tech
> Yet in his new role as economic secretary to the Treasury Mr Fuller is in charge of financial regulation for companies such as the ones he works for.
His Labour shadow, James Murray, finds it objectionable
> for a Treasury Minister to be benefiting from a company linked not only to tax avoidance, but also to the Chinese state-backed abuse of Uyghur Muslims.
> “The Government has serious questions to answer about why it ignored this shocking conflict of interest when putting Richard Fuller in charge of regulating financial services. Mr Fuller must urgently clarify whether he owns any stakes in offshore funds linked to Investcorp.”
Maybe when Chancellor Zahawi is through with defending his own [questionable offshore financing](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jul/17/zahawi-urged-to-explain-source-of-26m-mystery-loans) he’ll have time to resolve this spectacular conflict of interest.
[deleted]
Tax is for plebs
The Tory Party
This does kinda seem par for the course in modern politics. That ministers aren’t so much appointed in spite of conflicts of interest, but directly because of them. They aren’t there to represent us. There’s a kind of quaint feeling to this. Like we still think this sort of thing isn’t supposed to happen. It’s just that this government is so incompetent they can’t even disguise their corruption properly.
Is anyone surprised?
Give the Tories enough years in power and they hang themselves with their own rope.
Happened in the 80s and 90s, it’s happening again.
When a party is so utterly corrupt, it’s inevitable.