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Two senior ex-ministers who will earn tens of thousands of pounds on top of their parliamentary salaries by working for the nuclear industry look set to be summoned before an inquiry into lobbying, The Times has learnt.
As John Hutton, the Business Secretary, prepares to announce today that new nuclear power stations are to be built, the relationship between Parliament and the industry, which is bidding for billions of pounds of contracts, will come under scrutiny from the Public Administration Committee.
Ian McCartney, the former chairman of the Labour Party and former Trade Minister, and Richard Caborn, the former Sports Minister and former chairman of the Trade and Industry Select Committee, have each taken the roles since standing down from the Government in the summer. They could appear before the committee in little over a fortnight.
Both say that they work in an advisory capacity and do not lobby Parliament or Government – a practice that would be banned under the rules for MPs. Their positions have been vetted by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, the watchdog that seeks to prevent ministers from cashing in improperly after leaving office.
Mr McCartney is paid at least £110,000 to be a senior adviser to the management team of Fluor Corporation, a US multinational company. Mr Caborn was appointed in November as an adviser to a consortium including Amec, the British engineering services group, but his salary has not been disclosed because he said he had not finalised the contract.
Amec and Fluor are both bidding for a £5 billion contract to run Sellafield, Britain’s biggest nuclear site, in Cumbria. The contracts are awarded by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. The inquiry is expected to last for several months.
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This from the Government who robbed me of my investment in the public flotation of nuclear. They did it by setting prices very low & forcing collapse when obviously the industry needs a long term view.
Ali Murray, Solihull,
Both Companies need to be exclude from the bidding on ethical ground, Advisors with no background qualifications or experience of large project management, construction or the Nuclear industry, ARE lobbyist. Insider dealing can take many forms.
Greed and self interest is driving so many in "Public Service" that the term is becoming mis leading , ethics, loyalty and duty only a space fillers in the dictionary. These men have the right to sell them selves, but that does not extent to prostituting the interests of the tax paying public.
Sound judgment is not a quality current or recent past political leaders have exhibited. It is time that a veneer of honesty and integrety is returned to British Government.
Sandy, Victoria,
If this is true, it's not bad for a former 'seaman and .. local Government manual worker' and a 'fitter' (if we can believe the Wikipedia entries). Haven't they done well? I'll be interested to know what these technical qualifications count for, and why they attract such large salaries, if they are involved in advising on, say, the potential running of Sellafield. Or whatever else, for that matter.
I won't be holding my breath though. As, according to 'Theyworkforyou.com', one 'Voted very strongly against a transparent Parliament' and the other 'Has never voted on a transparent Parliament', I doubt if we shall ever find out.
I probably pay part of their salaries as MPs. I've just looked and neither is currently on my personal 'Theyworkforme.list' . Anyone know a good reason why I might add them to that anytime soon?
Avana Beach, London,
They're a couple of blockheads who got lucky. They can no more offer credible advice on nuclear power to their paymasters than they can on political integrity. They are employed because of their perceived political contacts whom they may be able to influence to the advantage of Fluor and Amec. It's called lobbying.
David Russell, Sheffield, South Yorkshire