-
Labour steps up attacks on ‘Tory sleaze’ – but will it cut through to voters?

Party sees cronyism as Conservatives’ biggest weakness but faces challenges in making charges stick to Teflon Boris
“Tory sleaze is back” is Labour’s new mantra – a bold charge first laid down by Rachel Reeves as the party challenged the government to back a more wide-ranging inquiry into lobbying and cronyism after the Greensill saga.
Labour has come to see it as the Conservatives’ biggest weakness, with one insider likening the drip-drip of cronyism allegations to those that engulfed John Major’s government.
On Wednesday, Labour communications chiefs made the decision to move up a gear and start calling it “sleaze”, after six months of attacking the cronyism of government contracts and appointments during the pandemic.
The party noticed voters bringing up cronyism in mid-2020. “There was a real discomfort with money for your mates, jobs for the boys,” one senior Labour source said. “It was really cutting through, people didn’t like it. They saw the dodgy contracts, the wastage, and they knew their money was being abused.”
The strategy is now seen as so important for Labour that it is the main preoccupation of Reeves, Starmer’s closest shadow cabinet ally, who shadows Michael Gove at the Cabinet Office.
There is also a useful comparison that can be made with Starmer, who is not a veteran of Westminster and comes from a legal background. The Labour leader looked at his most comfortable in weeks during a solid prime minister’s questions performance on Wednesday, where he laid out his record of prosecuting MPs who had broken expenses rules.
“We really need now to move up a gear in how we present Keir as an alternative, how we draw on his record as a prosecutor and as someone who has come from outside politics,” one adviser said. “That’s what makes him the answer.”
Cynics believe the affair may be too complicated to have real cut-through or electoral impact, that the public have already priced in some degree of “chumminess” with Boris Johnson, and that voters don’t discriminate between the parties when it comes to what they see as political corruption.
But Labour chiefs believe there is a crucial difference between the fairness of how taxpayers’ money is treated and salacious stories about Johnson’s sex life, which the public barely bat an eye over. The former is what they will try to hammer home.
“We cannot argue that Johnson is a bit Teflon, he has been for years. But there is something in this charge that might stick,” one senior adviser said.
There are three big challenges for Labour. First is whether it can provoke enough public disgust. Are the public so jaded that they believe the revolving door from government to the private sector is just par for the course?
The second challenge is whether it can drive this scandal through the door of 10 Downing Street and pin it to the current administration. It remains highly convenient for Johnson that David Cameron is the public face of the Greensill scandal. Judging by the mud-slinging against Cameron in parliament from the Tory benches, Johnson’s MPs are onboard with this fightback strategy.
The civil service is also taking a good share of the flak with the revelation that a senior official, Bill Crothers, worked for Greensill while still in Whitehall, all approved by the Cabinet Office at the time. Johnson can so far just about get away with saying “nothing to do with me”.
The third challenge is the complexity of the story: how Cameron’s chummy texts to Rishi Sunak relate to jobs at Liberty Steel. But one Labour source said it made little difference whether anyone could recall the name Bill Crothers in three months’ time.
“This is a long game, what matters is that people who listen to music on the radio and hear the news bulletins, they hear ‘conservatives, lobbying, cronyism’ and that is beginning to bed in,” one Labour source said.
source: Jessica Elgot
Levant
You May Also Like
Popular Posts
Caricature
BENEFIT AGM approves 10%...
- March 27, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the company’s headquarters in the Seef District.
During the meeting, shareholders approved all items listed on the agenda, including the ratification of the minutes of the previous AGM held on 26 March 2024. The session reviewed and approved the Board’s Annual Report on the company’s activities and financial performance for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024, and the shareholders expressed their satisfaction with the company’s operational and financial results during the reporting period.
The meeting also reviewed the Independent External Auditor’s Report on the company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. Subsequently, the shareholders approved the audited financial statements for the fiscal year. Based on the Board’s recommendation, the shareholders approved the distribution of a cash dividend equivalent to 10% of the paid-up share capital.
Furthermore, the shareholders endorsed the allocation of a total amount of BD 172,500 as remuneration to the members of the Board for the year ended 31 December 2024, subject to prior clearance by related authorities.
The extension of the current composition of the Board was approved, which includes ten members and one CBB observer, for a further six-month term, expiring in September 2025, pending no objection from the CBB.
The meeting reviewed and approved the Corporate Governance Report for 2024, which affirmed the company’s full compliance with the corporate governance directives issued by the CBB and other applicable regulatory frameworks. The AGM absolved the Board Members of liability for any of their actions during the year ending on 31st December 2024, in accordance with the Commercial Companies Law.
In alignment with regulatory requirements, the session approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young (EY) as the company’s External Auditors for the fiscal year 2025, covering both the parent company and its subsidiaries—Sinnad and Bahrain FinTech Bay. The Board was authorised to determine the external auditors’ professional fees, subject to approval from the CBB, and the meeting concluded with a discussion of any additional issues as per Article (207) of the Commercial Companies Law.
Speaking on the company’s performance, Mr. Mohamed Al Bastaki, Chairman BENEFIT , stated: “In terms of the financial results for 2024, I am pleased to say that the year gone by has also been proved to be a success in delivering tangible results. Growth rate for 2024 was 19 per cent. Revenue for the year was BD 17 M (US$ 45.3 Million) and net profit was 2 Million ($ 5.3 Million).
Mr. Al Bastaki also announced that the Board had formally adopted a new three-year strategic roadmap to commence in 2025. The strategy encompasses a phased international expansion, optimisation of internal operations, enhanced revenue diversification, long-term sustainability initiatives, and the advancement of innovation and digital transformation initiatives across all service lines.
“I extend my sincere appreciation to the CBB for its continued support of BENEFIT and its pivotal role in fostering a stable and progressive regulatory environment for the Kingdom’s banking and financial sector—an environment that has significantly reinforced Bahrain’s standing as a leading financial hub in the region,” said Mr. Al Bastaki. “I would also like to thank our partner banks and valued customers for their trust, and our shareholders for their ongoing encouragement. The achievements of 2024 set a strong precedent, and I am confident they will serve as a foundation for yet another successful and impactful year ahead.”
Chief Executive of BENEFIT; Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi commented, “The year 2024 represented another pivotal chapter in BENEFIT ’s evolution. We achieved substantial progress in advancing our digital strategy across multiple sectors, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to the development of Bahrain’s financial services and payments landscape. Throughout the year, we remained firmly aligned with our objective of delivering measurable value to our shareholders, strategic partners, and customers. At the same time, we continued to play an active role in enabling Bahrain’s digital economy by introducing innovative solutions and service enhancements that directly address market needs and future opportunities.”
Mr. AlJanahi affirmed that BENEFIT has successfully developed a robust and well-integrated payment network that connects individuals and businesses across Bahrain, accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies in the banking and financial services sector and reinforcing Bahrain’s position as a growing fintech hub, and added, “Our achievements of the past year reflect a long-term vision to establish a resilient electronic payment infrastructure that supports the Kingdom’s digital economy. Key developments in 2024 included the implementation of central authentication for open banking via BENEFIT Pay”
Mr. AlJanahi concluded by thanking the Board for its strategic direction, the company’s staff for their continued dedication, and the Central Bank of Bahrain, member banks, and shareholders for their valuable partnership and confidence in the company’s long-term vision.
opinion
Report
ads
Newsletter
Subscribe to our mailing list to get the new updates!