High pressures squeeze and crush, but low pressures damage too. Losing the atom-level buzz that keeps us held safe in the balance of internal and external pressure releases dangerous storms, disorientation and pain, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
With a little help from her friends
Despite the backing of banker buddies, the Work and Pensions Secretary's constituency hangs in the balance: SOLOMON HUGHES gets stuck into Amber Rudd
Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd
EDMUND GRIFFITHS makes a robust defence of sortition, the chosen method of picking attendees for the new left party’s inaugural conference from the membership at random, but sounds the alarm on the eye-watering number of suggested delegates
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ASSAF TALGAM talks to an Israeli Communist lawmaker about the need to use every tool of democratic and non-violent struggle; how Israeli society has changed since October 7 2023; and the persecution of the left in the parliamentary arena
AMBER RUDD has returned to government very quickly, despite having to leave her former home secretary job because of her involvement in the Windrush scandal.
Rudd is now back in government where, as the new work and pensions secretary, she is in charge of benefits. Putting Rudd in charge of poor people makes sense from a Tory point of view, because Rudd is very strongly backed by rich people.
If you look at the Register of MPs’ interests, it is clear Rudd can count on City folk for support. And for the Conservatives, being backed by bankers is a strong qualification for getting an important job.
Rudd is defending a very narrow 346 vote majority in her constituency, Hastings and Rye, on the south coast.
It hasn’t helped that she insulted her less well-off constituents. In 2013, she told the Financial Times that too many unemployed people moved to Hastings and that “you get people who are on benefits who prefer to be on benefits by the seaside. They’re not moving down here to get a job. They’re moving down here to have easier access to friends and drugs and drink.”
So Rudd’s friends are throwing cash at her Constituency Conservative Party to help her fight off the Labour challenge. The Register of MPs’ interests shows a series of donations to her local Conservative Party. The money is there to help Hastings Tories campaign to get her re-elected.
This years’ donations include £10k from Sarah Kowitz, donated the day after Rudd had to resign as Home Secretary. She is the wife of David Kowitz, founder-manager of Far East investment firm Indus Capital, and the couple live in a mock-castle manor house, Fairlight Hall, overlooking Hastings.
There’s £2k from Christopher Gent. A long-term Tory supporter, Gent has been the boss of mobile phone firm Vodafone and chairman of drug firm GlaxoSmithKline. He was also a director of Lehman Brothers as the giant bank went bust, sparking the global financial crisis. Gent backed the huge bonuses for Dick Fuld, the Lehman boss who drove the bank into the crash.
Another £2k from Ashok Gadhia. He is the husband of Jayne-Anne Gadhia, until recently the chief executive of Virgin Money. She led Virgin Money when it bought Northern Rock from the government which owned Northern Rock because it went bust in the financial crash and had to be nationalised. Virgin Money cashed in by buying Northern Rock cheaply from the taxpayer.
Yet another £2k from Alexia Florman. Her husband Mark Florman founded merchant bankers Maizels Westerberg and is now chairman of finance firm Spayne Lindsay.
He also helped found Iain Duncan Smith’s think tank the Centre for Social Justice. Alexia Florman gave a big donation to the “Conservatives In” campaign during the EU Referendum.
You might think this donation reflects Rudd’s “liberal remain” credentials, but Rudd’s local party also got £10k this year from Growth Financial Services — a Mayfair financial management company owned and controlled by private equity investor Christopher Mills.
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