The links between politics and banking are desperately unhealthy, for all of us Simon Jenkins
almost 5 years in The guardian
Between Whitehall and the City there is a revolving door of co-dependency
It’s a nice job, chancellor of the exchequer. Sets you up well, should things not go right. The recently deposed Sajid Javid was a simple banker until in 2010 he got bored and entered politics. Within a decade, the Tory party’s slaughter of the talents shot him through five cabinet posts in as many years until as chancellor he fell foul of Johnson-Cummings syndrome. He is now nursing his wounds on the backbenches and returning to his old berth at the American bank, JP Morgan.
What is it about banks? JP Morgan specialises in getting on well with politicians. Javid joins Tony Blair on its payroll, as well as a former Finnish prime minister and an Italian finance minister. Whitehall’s committee on business appointments vets such jobs lest they are “being traded for favours”. In the case of banks this is a joke. The City and Whitehall just now are like two drunks tottering down the street together, pie-eyed on public money. Continue reading...
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