After the Johnson Government, the Truss regime refines Old Corruption
The Government of Johnson was of course a bad one, so bad that his own MPs ejected him eventually. One speciality was the letting of Government contracts to their mates.
It was an echo of the pre-1832 Reform Act practice of Old Corruption. That is a system that lacked democratic accountability, where people held political positions and exploited them for their own wealth, not on the basis of competence or suitability, but of who they were and who they knew.
Rupert Murdoch who owns the Times brand clearly wants Johnson’s successor Liz Truss gone as the Sunday Times (2nd Oct) has run several stories on dubious practices at the centre of Government.
The Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is reported to have attended a champagne party for hedge fund managers shortly after his Fiscal Statement that removed the cap on banker’s bonuses and handed out tax cuts for the rich. The paper reports that several attendees referred to Kwarteng as a ‘useful idiot’.
Also reported is that several senior Truss aides were in fact being paid by the lobbying firm of Mark Fullbrook, Truss’s Chief of Staff. Only when the matter came to light did the Government agree that this was inappropriate and put them on the Government payroll
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