Oh dear Darling

It would appear that as many expected, Gordon Brown is keeping firm control over the Treasury. The job of Chancellor of the Exchequer under Gordon Brown as Prime Minister was never going to be an easy job and not many people envied Alistair Darling his new position. The Northern Rock debacle has shown how much trust Gordon Brown has in Alistair Darling. It seems that Gordon Brown has been using his former Treasury "fixer", Shriti Vadera, to help resolve key financial issues; Ms Vadera who was ennobled in the summer, was allegedly involved in discussions with Lloyds TSB about a rescue deal for crisis-hit Northern Rock. If that was a one off that she only became involved in because Lloyds TSB is being advised by UBS the investment bank in which Lady Vadera was a senior executive before joining the Treasury then Alistair wouldn't feel quite so bad. However the Telegraph also report that Ms Vadera "is also said to be involved in discussions to water down Mr Darling’s proposals for reforming capital gains tax.".

Now of course all of the relevant parties have denied anything of the sort. "Shahid Malik, her boss at the Department for International Development has blocked their requests saying: "Ministers and senior officials meet a range of individuals and organisations to discuss policy and delivery issues. As was the case with the previous administration, the Government does not provide details of all such meetings."

Lloyds TSB declined to comment but a Treasury spokesman said: "No information on any proposed sale of Northern Rock has been provided to Baroness Vadera, nor have there been any meetings whatsoever between the Treasury and Baroness Vadera to discuss Northern Rock.

"Furthermore, it is incorrect to suggest that Baroness Vadera has held talks with Lloyds TSB, UBS or anyone else in the City on a potential takeover of Northern Rock. Tax policy is a matter for the Chancellor and decisions are made as part of the Budget process. Shriti Vadera has not been involved in discussions on capital gains tax.""

You can choose who to believe.


One interesting story to come out about Shriti Vadera, that may ring a few bells, is that she was the person who during the Railtrack High Court case described Railtrack shareholders as "grannies" who "added no value to the company".

The Telegraph reports that "One official noted that Lady Vadera was in many ways like a female Gordon Brown – fiercely clever, serious, demanding but loyal to those who perform." I do not know about Ms Vadera but I only associate two of those qualities with Gordon Brown.

As the economy collapses you can expect Gordon Brown to rely more and more on his unelected advisers and less on elected Ministers. The Ministers will be worried about their reelection chances whilst his advisers will not.