Archive for matthew oakeshott
Independent Commission on Banking threatened mass resignation to make Osborne back-off
Matthew Oakeshott’s departure as a Liberal Democrat spokesman for criticising the ‘Project Merlin’ deal with the banks over bonuses and the like may have got the headlines, but the real story is revealed by Anthony Hilton in the Evening Standard – all the members of the Commission threatened to resign in protest at government interference [...]
Matthew Oakeshott profiled in The Guardian
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 [...]
Lord Oakeshott departs as a Lib Dem Treasury spokesman
By “mutual agreement”, earlier today Lord Oakeshott stopped being a Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman in the Lords. In a lively alternative to the usually banal exchange of letters on such occasions, Oakeshott and Danny Alexander instead exchanged waspish soundbites. Matthew Oakeshott criticised today’s deal with the banks on bonuses, lending and other matters saying, “If [...]
Lord Oakeshott attacks Barclays over bonsues
The Guardian reports: Barclays was tonight accused of making a mockery of attempts to call a truce with the government over “banker bashing” amid fresh expectations that its chief executive Bob Diamond would be awarded a bonus of at least £8m. After months of talking with the banks, the coalition is yet to announce a [...]
Lord Oakeshott attacks bank bonus secrecy
From The Guardian: Cracking down on bankers’ bonuses is a “moment of truth” for the coalition government, a leading Liberal Democrat has warned, amid mounting expectations that payments of at least £7bn will be awarded in the coming weeks… Lord Oakeshott, a Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman, said this was a moment for the coalition to [...]
The Huhne – Oakeshott two-step
Over the weekend we saw two stories, two prominent Liberal Democrats, two public staking out of positions on issues that are the subject of much debate within the coalition in Whitehall: David Cameron was warned yesterday by a senior Lib Dem not to delay the introduction of legislation banning non-doms from making donations to political [...]
Tory donor, tax affairs, Oakeshott on the case: some things haven’t changed
Liberal Democrat peer Lord Oakeshott is clearly not put off by coalition from his pursuit of Tory donors and their tax statuses. Today it is Jon Wood, whose tax affairs have been in the papers with Lord Oakeshott saying, “Now is the time to take...
Tax-exiles get a new lease of life as political donors
From today’s Observer:
A much-publicised law designed to stop wealthy tax exiles bankrolling political parties has been quietly dropped until after a general election, the Observer has learned.
The disclosure means that key Labour donors such as Lakshmi Mittal as well as Tory donor Lord Ashcroft will still be able to pump millions of pounds into the [...]
Lib Dems call on George Osborne to pay capital gains tax
From The Telegraph:
George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, is facing demands to “pay back” £55,000 in capital gains tax, which critics say he is morally obliged to pay after “flipping” his designated second property.
The Liberal Democrats said they had calculated how much capital gains tax Mr Osborne avoided by the way he designated his London family [...]
