Watch: Science Secretary grilled over latest cronyism row

Labour’s cronyism row has reared its head once again. It now transpires that Sir Keir Starmer’s government failed to disclose an official’s links with the Labour lot when trying to nab her a civil service job – omitting to add the rather significant detail on important transparency forms. As Mr S wrote in August, the appointment of Emily Middleton to the Department for Science and Technology raised ‘cash for jobs’ concerns after it emerged she was a party donor, with the former businesswoman’s consultancy firm having given a whopping £66,000 to the party in the past. With Starmer’s government already struggling with the freebie fiasco, this latest development is hardly likely to help matters…

As written in Politico, documents received under a Freedom of Information request reveal that the fast-track forms used to push Middleton into the civil service role in July made no mention of the businesswoman’s links to the Labour Party, the Labour Together group or the donation made to the, er, Science Secretary Peter Kyle’s office.