Today’s Guardian has a profile of Lib Dem peer Lord (Matthew) Oakeshott:
Lord Oakeshott is the master of the one-liner. Treasury officials, in his opinion, “couldn’t negotiate themselves out of a paper bag”. Bankers’ pay particularly irks him: “If this is bonus restraint, my name is Bob Diamond,” is one of the most memorable remarks uttered by any politician this year…
A forthright supporter of the Guardian’s tax gap campaign – he read out in the Lords statements that Barclays had enjoined, and which could be revealed only because of parliamentary privilege – he is keeping up the pressure on tax avoidance, non-doms and banks…
Despite his frustration at the Project Merlin deal, Oakeshott still supports the coalition agreement, hammered out for the Lib Dems by Chris Huhne – whom he had backed in the leadership race – and David Laws. “You can see why Chris Huhne and David Laws earned millions in the City. They negotiated a great deal. That’s why we must stick to it.” Even so, Oakeshott admits: “Most of us in the Lib Dems, including me, would rather we did a deal with Labour.”
You can read the full profile of Lord Oakeshott here.
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