Lord Botham Trade Envoy. A sinecure of pre-1832 ‘Old Corruption’
Boris Johnson has announced the appointment of 10 new trade envoys including Kate Hoey and Ian Botham.
Botham is of course one of England’s best known cricketers and has done considerable charitable work. His trade envoy appointment however no doubt owes as much to his support for Brexit as his celebrity.
Trade envoys were started in 2012 by Dave Cameron, which in the light of recent events might give pause for thought in itself. They are however unpaid and essentially ceremonial type roles.
One thing that does get paid though are travel costs and hotel bills when the envoy visits the country they are meant to be boosting trade with. Lord Botham can therefore look forward to all expenses paid trips to Australia should their Government ever decide to let non-residents visit again.
The latest figures I can find show that the cost of trade envoys from 2015-2018 was £430,000. Not a huge sum when you consider what the Government wastes on other appointments with its political mates, but quite a bit if you are on universal credit.
It is the world of pre-democratic pre-1832 politics, what William Cobbett referred to as Old Corruption. A world of sinecures based not on merit or worth but on who you know
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