Guess Who May Intends To Appoint As Next Chancellor?

By Graham Vanbergen – In October 2011 The Telegraph reported that: Dr Liam Fox became the first Tory Cabinet minister in David Cameron’s government to stand down, after more than a week of revelations about his relationship with his best man, Adam Werritty. The Defence Secretary announced that he was resigning after detailed disclosures showed Mr Werritty’s activities were funded by companies and individuals that potentially stood to benefit from Government decisions.

 

In February 2016 the New Statesman headlined with:  In a less shameless world, Liam Fox’s career would have ended in 2011. They quite rightly pointed out that Fox should never hold a government job again, let alone a senior cabinet role. They also pointed out that Fox was branded a national security risk. And so did cabinet secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell –  “The disclosure outside the MoD of details about future visits overseas posed a degree of security risk.”

Liam Fox, although marched out in disgrace, who should never, ever been allowed to walk the corridors of power again, was last year given the plumb role of Secretary of State for International Trade and also no less, President of the Board of Trade.

In July last year The Independent went with: Appointing Boris Johnson is bad, but letting the disgraced Liam Fox back into frontline politics is downright dishonourable

“Britain used to take international affairs and our relationship with other countries with the seriousness it deserved. But with just two strokes of her pen, new Prime Minister Theresa May has returned Britain to its newly found status as an international joke. When a US State Department spokesman was told about Boris Johnson becoming Foreign Secretary last night, he almost laughed, while German TV presenters didn’t even hold back. A friend who was at the Foreign Office messaged me last night to say: “Boris fucking Johnson in Beirut dealing with Syria? I can’t even deal with this lunacy.”

The Independent then went on to say: “But if appointing Johnson is a joke, the PM’s decision to put Liam Fox on front-line politics again is nothing short of dishonourable.”

You know where this is going don’t you?

 

Ex British ambassador Craig Murray has let the cat out of the bag.

“A week ago an old Whitehall colleague told me that Treasury mandarins expect to be briefing Liam Fox as the new Chancellor should the Tories be re-elected – and they were not much looking forward to the experience.“

It is clear that the current Chancellor – Philip Hammond is for the chop.  Vox Political said of Hammond “Philip Hammond has threatened to launch a trade war against the European Union if he doesn’t get what he wants out of Brexit –Ye Gods. And this idiot is the Chancellor of the Exchequer.” 

Theresa May seems to have a bit of thing – with idiots.

And of course we should not let it pass that Hammond’s last budget wasn’t exactly a success. The Times reported: “Perhaps the last time a Conservative chancellor caused such immediate consternation among Tory MPs was in 1993, when Norman Lamont put VAT on energy bills.” That was being kind – Hammond was shredded in the days that followed, much to the embarrassment of the Tories.

Hammond, adding his (light) weight to the election started the week being ripped to shreds again, this time by John Humphreys on the Today programme and getting the cost of HS2 radically wrong. Of course the mainstream media would not shred a labour chancellor in waiting for making a similar cock-up now would they Diane?

Craig Murray makes the point that Theresa May was asked quite directly three times if Hammond would continue in his role as Chancellor, and she refused to back him -as did the Torygraph Telegraph newspaper and it’s unambiguous headline “Theresa May refuses to say Philip Hammond will be Chancellor in June.”

And let’s not forget that Liam Fox’s pal at the centre of the scandal that should have sent them both down a coal mine in deepest Yorkshire forever, opened a private health company when Fox was Health Secretary and a defence consultancy business when Fox was Minister of Defence. Lets also not forget that his best buddy illegally handed out business cards falsely describing him as one of Fox’s official advisers when he wasn’t (even security cleared) and was investigated by police for fraud.

At the same time, there was skullduggery going on by Fox and his best mate and tory party donors. The Guardian reported that:

“Pargav (a company that Werrity was a director of) which received £147,000 of funds from four high-profile Tory-donating businessmen and an international investigation company staffed by ex-MI6 employees, paid for Werritty to take a string of first-class flights to meet up with Fox at 18 exotic locations while the former cabinet minister was on government business. Fox also hosted Werritty at the Ministry of Defence’s headquarters on Whitehall 22 times between the 2010 general election and his resignation.”

Craig Murray also makes the point that: “the prospect of Fox becoming Chancellor is truly alarming. The hard right links he forged through the now defunct Atlantic Bridge to the American Legislative Exchange Council and the Heritage Foundation give him direct access into the heart of the Trump administration, and align him with the nastiest millionaires and hedge fund managers, with the funders of climate change denial and with those who wish to abolish literally all workers’ rights and consumer protections.”

The fact that Liam Fox, disgraced through his crookedness has been allowed back into politics in the first place fully demonstrates the state of politics today. Politics is utterly shameless, disreputable and downright unprincipled. But employing this charlatan at the heart of government in the role of chancellor is not just contemptible it shows that Theresa May is creating a swamp, just like Donald Trump for the future we have coming at us with Brexit.

 

So how did this come about? Well, my suspicion is that Liam Fox went to put his hat in the ring when David Cameron decided it was a good and proper thing to to quit after leading the country into chaos after the Brexit result. This from GuidoFawkes June 29th last year- “A source close to Liam Fox tells Guido he will announce his leadership bid tomorrow. This comes after speculation he was in talks with Theresa May, which is denied by both sides. Of course this could be some snakes and ladders in the hope of being offered a top Cabinet post.” They don’t get much more toppy than Chancellor of the Exchequer do they?

 

The types of trade deals we can expect with American corporations and people like Fox at the helm will be positively dangerous for all of us. New Economics Foundation has reported various government leaks that conclude we are heading for trade deals that threaten endangered species, our environment, workers rights (what remains of them that is), food supplies, cosmetics, toys, happiness, life in general – the list is endless.

Let’s hope Craig Murray is wrong. Personally, I would have thought that once the May coronation is done, not even she would have the audacity – but then again, she did employ a bumbling swivel-eyed idiot as Foreign Secretary, so who knows. You can imagine it though. Fox, although laying low for the duration of this election, will come bounding out the door on reshuffle day, pants on the outside, one arm pointed to the sky – announcing he is now in control of the nation’s bank account as if he thoroughly deserved it because of his unswerving dedication and sense of duty to her majesty.

If Badman does coming flying out of No 10 in charge of the sixth largest economy in the world – it’s confirmation that this lot will stop at nothing in pursuit of self aggrandisement irrespective of the consequences for the rest of us for generations to come. Neo-liberal capitalism will reach new highs, whilst exploitation of the poor, the environment and frankly anything else that could turn a profit will reach new lows. Hey-ho – I feel a bank holiday of civil unrest would be a nice day out in London. Oh – there’s a new law against that – Humph!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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