>At least 10 of Rishi Sunak’s ministers have been allowed to keep their roles as directors of private companies while serving in government after getting special permission to retain their business interests.
>The directorships were disclosed in the new register of ministerial interests at a time when senior Conservatives serving in government appear increasingly reluctant to give up their business links, with less than two years before another election.
>Sunak’s full entry for family interests says: “The prime minister’s wife is a venture capital investor. She owns a venture capital investment company, Catamaran Ventures UK Ltd, and a number of direct shareholdings.”
>This links to a footnote, which mentions the shareholding in Koru Kids.
>Murty’s other shareholdings, however, including a stake in the former family firm Infosys, remain undeclared and there was no new detail on Sunak’s own interests, which are held in a blind management arrangement.
>
>Allowing ministers increasingly to stay on as directors is a departure from precedent. They would normally be expected to give the roles up on taking office.
>Among those to carry on with directorships are Dominic Johnson, a senior business and trade minister who is director of an investment company with more than £4m of assets; and Chris Philp, a senior Home Office minister who is also director of an investment company and a partner in the property firm Pluto.
>Viscount Camrose, a hereditary peer and minister in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, was allowed to retain directorships in five investment companies, while Lord Callahan, an energy minister, is the director of his own consultancy.
>The list of ministerial interests also shows that Andrew Griffith, a Treasury minister with responsibility for new regulation of controversial cryptocurrencies, is an investor in Brent Hoberman’s Firstminute Capital LLP, a seed investor in crypto firms, AI and financial technology firms.
Think of all the money they save in lobbying costs that can be used to ~~bribe~~ donate to the party. Think of the shareholders!
*”British citizens should not read the tofu-eating wokeratis of The Guardian. You should read The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail”*
**- Suella Braverman**
All hail our Oligarchic overlords!!
– “Allowing ministers increasingly to stay on as directors is a departure from precedent. They would normally be expected to give the roles up on taking office.”
Does anyone have any remaining expectation that these…people, will meet any expectations at all, in any aspect of governance?
Never ceases to amaze me that this shit is legal.
It would be far better value to pay each MP a million pounds per year but bar them from having ANY outside financial interests beyond a normal pension and savings account. NO directorships, NO shares in any companies whatsoever, NO involvement in the family firm, NO other source of income. And rigorous monitoring of their business activities after their political careers end to deter “setting oneself up” whilst in office.
On top of the blatant corruption issues, what I read is that being a company director is so, so demanding (hence their pay, right?) that you can pile on other jobs on top of it. Scam.
No point being the boss if you can’t fill your mates pockets with the poors money.
9 comments
Disclosure by footnote.
Excerpt from the linked content:^1
>At least 10 of Rishi Sunak’s ministers have been allowed to keep their roles as directors of private companies while serving in government after getting special permission to retain their business interests.
>The directorships were disclosed in the new register of ministerial interests at a time when senior Conservatives serving in government appear increasingly reluctant to give up their business links, with less than two years before another election.
>Sunak’s full entry for family interests says: “The prime minister’s wife is a venture capital investor. She owns a venture capital investment company, Catamaran Ventures UK Ltd, and a number of direct shareholdings.”
>This links to a footnote, which mentions the shareholding in Koru Kids.
>Murty’s other shareholdings, however, including a stake in the former family firm Infosys, remain undeclared and there was no new detail on Sunak’s own interests, which are held in a blind management arrangement.
>
>Allowing ministers increasingly to stay on as directors is a departure from precedent. They would normally be expected to give the roles up on taking office.
>Among those to carry on with directorships are Dominic Johnson, a senior business and trade minister who is director of an investment company with more than £4m of assets; and Chris Philp, a senior Home Office minister who is also director of an investment company and a partner in the property firm Pluto.
>Viscount Camrose, a hereditary peer and minister in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, was allowed to retain directorships in five investment companies, while Lord Callahan, an energy minister, is the director of his own consultancy.
>The list of ministerial interests also shows that Andrew Griffith, a Treasury minister with responsibility for new regulation of controversial cryptocurrencies, is an investor in Brent Hoberman’s Firstminute Capital LLP, a seed investor in crypto firms, AI and financial technology firms.
^1 Rowena Mason and Peter Walker (20 Apr. 2023), “At least 10 Sunak ministers retain roles as private company directors”, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/19/at-least-10-sunak-ministers-retain-roles-as-private-company-directors
[deleted]
Think of all the money they save in lobbying costs that can be used to ~~bribe~~ donate to the party. Think of the shareholders!
*”British citizens should not read the tofu-eating wokeratis of The Guardian. You should read The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail”*
**- Suella Braverman**
All hail our Oligarchic overlords!!
– “Allowing ministers increasingly to stay on as directors is a departure from precedent. They would normally be expected to give the roles up on taking office.”
Does anyone have any remaining expectation that these…people, will meet any expectations at all, in any aspect of governance?
Never ceases to amaze me that this shit is legal.
It would be far better value to pay each MP a million pounds per year but bar them from having ANY outside financial interests beyond a normal pension and savings account. NO directorships, NO shares in any companies whatsoever, NO involvement in the family firm, NO other source of income. And rigorous monitoring of their business activities after their political careers end to deter “setting oneself up” whilst in office.
On top of the blatant corruption issues, what I read is that being a company director is so, so demanding (hence their pay, right?) that you can pile on other jobs on top of it. Scam.
No point being the boss if you can’t fill your mates pockets with the poors money.