Oh No! Not Again!
First, this Blog will not comment on the particulars of his revelation, other than to say at a personal level David Laws is a gifted and sensitive man whose life has taken a nightmare turn and we extend personal sympathy at a very testing hour.
Second this Blog will comment on the political consequences. For whatever reason and motivated by whatever emotional pressures, this important Cabinet minister has made a bad error of judgement. The error is not in his understanding of opaque rules, or applying an unduly narrow definition in his own case. The theme, as the public knows so well, of that corrupt expenses system, was that the money was yours for the taking if you could find a plausible excuse. And make sure you keep it quiet because details of Members’ expenses are secret.Then along came the Telegraph. The scandal broke. MPs rushed to repay and apologise. Some were censured and went down. Others were censured and survived. Others escaped. A few were arrested. Amid public outrage without precedent in our history, there was a cleansing time, when it proved possible to come clean, pay back and move on.
Unfortunately David Laws did not come clean then. Now is too late. We have moved on and we are not going back. The political consequence is that the new Government is damaged. How badly is not yet clear, but the public will be shocked that in the midst of the drama of an unfolding International Sovereign Debt Crisis, when great personal financial sacrifice will be mandated upon the many, we are back to the misuse of public money by the few.
Cameron must act today. Sadly David Laws must go. Next The Prime Minister must show leadership and authority. Clegg and Cable are at fault for not vetting their candidate for the cabinet more thoroughly. Doubtless the prospect of being in the cabinet did not occur to them until after the election, at a time when nobody slept. Nevertheless this is a lapse in quality control which is bad for the Lib Dems and a blow to Cameron, who has been generous to them. He should make them pay.
He must replace Laws with a Conservative. There is one who stands out for this post. He is anti big government and waste, but has recently shown himself creative over capital gains tax and supportive of the Coalition. John Redwood. His appointment would strengthen Cameron’s authority where now it matters most, his own backbenchers. It would also strengthen the Government. Redwood is a big hitter.
The Lib Dems will not like it, but they screwed up. Anyway they have no choice. If it came to the crunch Cameron and the Tories could go it alone. That is clearer now than it was two weeks ago.