Has Osborne fully considered his transparency promise?

Will Osborne come to regret his new-found transparency zeal? This week’s saga from the London Mayoral candidates highlights how financial disclosures can not be all they seem. For Osborne to fulfil his promise, we need full details of not just income and tax returns, but also assets in which they are stakeholders and companies through which they work. Brian Paddick’s release is an excellent model to follow, as opposed to Ken Livingstone’s decision to release just a few summary figures.

If Team Miliband happened to be on the ball, there is also a great opportunity to pip the government with a universal full disclosure. This would be following Osborne’s own lead — he oversaw the first such breakdown whilst in opposition. The News of the World’s Shadow Cabinet Rich List— which we published on Coffee House —was the first of its kind. This is what they said about the Government’s new freedom fighter in 2008: