David Cameron’s recently departed speechwriter Clare Foges earned the affectionate nickname ‘the Prime Minister’s Larynx’ for her work assisting Cameron with his public speaking, so her Times column today will make for some interesting reading for her former colleagues in No. 10.
Despite the Tories winning a majority in the election, Foges, who used to work as an ice cream driver, has offered the Conservatives a shopping list on how they can ‘reset their image’ and shrug off their ‘nasty party’ tag.
The poet, who has been working for Cameron since 2009, calls for the Department of Health to be made a cross party department – presumably by appointing both Burnham and Hunt, as well as suggesting Cameron makes National Citizen Service compulsory. What’s more, she says it’s time the government scrapped the controversial reform to housing benefit, nicknamed the ‘Bedroom Tax’:
‘Move on from the bedroom tax. It is not working as had been hoped and will remain a fly in the one-nation ointment. Have a principled mea culpa moment and move on.’
Foges doesn’t stop there, she goes on to call for action against tax avoiders, a topic Labour regularly attacked the Tories for during the election campaign:
‘Bring in a “no tax, no honours” rule. One nation must mean everyone playing by the same rules — not giving knighthoods and other honours to those who park all their money in tax havens.’
‘Have some rows. High-profile, high-octane rows: with global tech companies that think they’re above tax, with supermarkets that decimate high streets — show that the government is prepared to stand up to big corporate interests in defence of what matters, instilling one-nation pride.’
Mr S suspects that Foges’ former boss might not see her allegations about the relationship between tax and honours in quite the same way.
It’s an extraordinary rant from someone employed by the Tories in government just a month ago – suggesting that the party were doing all of these things wrong at the time. Furthermore, Foges had regular sessions with Cameron in her role as special advisor so in theory she would have had the opportunity to put these ideas to the Prime Minister ahead of her departure. Mr S wonders what her inbox looks like this morning.
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