‘Keir today, gone tomorrow.’ The whisper before Easter was that Labour’s troubled leader might not survive until the next election but the spectre of Tory sleaze – which felled John Major’s government – has come to the rescue. Sir Keir started PMQs by alluding to David Cameron’s freelance activities for Greensill Capital.
‘Are the current lobbying rules fit for purpose?’ he asked.
Boris tried the ‘nothing to see here’ approach. He wants to smother the controversy by appointing a legal sleuth with a spectacularly dull name, Nigel Boardman, whose findings will be delivered in June. So for the next two months the PM can happily refer every question to ‘the Bored Man Enquiry.’ He’ll enjoy that.
And he cited the Lobbying Act of 2014 which, he claimed, had been passed by the Tories without Labour support. Ah but, said Sir Keir, that law was devised by the very man now in the spotlight: David Cameron.
The return of Dodgy Dave has affected the leaders in curious ways
Boris widened the issue and questioned Sir Keir’s closeness to Peter Mandelson who heads an international lobbying group, Global Counsel.
Sir Keir laughed at this.
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