Money is at the heart of public mistrust, and the Tories are taking more than anyone PDF Print E-mail

Tamasin Cave, 29 April 2009

George Osborne announced an “age of austerity” at this week’s Conservative spring conference: “We need a government of thrift,” he said, adding: “David Cameron and I have earned the right to be heard on this.”

Has George Osborne earned this right? His personal record on expenses seems if not frugal, then certainly not extravagant. Last year George’s office – minus any housing and personal claims - cost the tax payer roughly £110,000. The bulk of this - £79,000 - went on staff costs. Sounds like value for money for a busy shadow chancellor.

Except that in the same year, George also accepted donations, earmarked by donors for staffing his office, of nearly half a million pounds. Suddenly George looks a bit of a spend-thrift.

The money came from a handful of bankers and businessmen, among them the hedge fund millionaire Hugh Sloane and banking heiress Serena Rothschild. According to The Mirror, in Cameron’s time as leader the Conservatives have taken £14 million from the City and bankers.

According to George, he and Cameron will “restore the trust of our fellow citizens in a political system mired in the scandal of smears and parliamentary expenses and the corrosion of spin.” What lies at the centre of this mistrust? The answer is money.

The public has a right to know what MPs claim from the public purse. But we should also be able to scrutinise what these bankers are getting for their half a million quid. £579,000 on staff costs either makes Osborne’s claims to tackle a “bloated” public sector seem ridiculous, or the money is buying something else.

For the public to think that it might be buying influence is entirely natural. Vote for reform of expenses by all means, but if you want to restore our faith in politicians, tackle the big money. Like the rest of us George, learn to be thrifty and turn it down.

 

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