Wednesday, February 09, 2022
Sale or return
In most financial transactions one should always remember the phrase, caveat emptor, the principle that the buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods before a purchase is made. It is a motto that billionaire Tory donor, John Armitage might well want to have engraved on his wallet.
According to the Guardian, Mr Armitage, the co-founder of the hedge fund firm Egerton Capital, who has given £3.1m to the Conservatives, including more than £500,000 since Boris Johnson entered No 10, has has suggested that Johnson should resign, saying that the prime minister was “past the point of no return”. He reportedly told the BBC he thought leaders should leave if they lose their moral authority:
Armitage’s intervention comes after a torrid period for Johnson with an investigation by the senior civil servant, Sue Gray, into parties held at Downing Street and Whitehall during Covid lockdowns finding “serious failures of leadership”.
A police investigation is looking at the most serious allegations within the “partygate” scandal and in the meantime Johnson has endured a series of resignations from senior officials, some of which he has sought to replace.
~ Armitage told the BBC global challenges to the west required ‘‘very serious, engaged politicians with a sense of purpose”.
“Politicians should go into politics to do good for their country,” he added.
“That is the overwhelming reason to be in politics. I don’t think it’s about your own personal sense of getting to the top of a snakes-and-ladders game.”
Armitage is right, but I have no sympathy for his belated sense of remorse. The signs were there at the beginning of Johnson's premiership. Perhaps he should have looked more closely before writing his cheques.
According to the Guardian, Mr Armitage, the co-founder of the hedge fund firm Egerton Capital, who has given £3.1m to the Conservatives, including more than £500,000 since Boris Johnson entered No 10, has has suggested that Johnson should resign, saying that the prime minister was “past the point of no return”. He reportedly told the BBC he thought leaders should leave if they lose their moral authority:
Armitage’s intervention comes after a torrid period for Johnson with an investigation by the senior civil servant, Sue Gray, into parties held at Downing Street and Whitehall during Covid lockdowns finding “serious failures of leadership”.
A police investigation is looking at the most serious allegations within the “partygate” scandal and in the meantime Johnson has endured a series of resignations from senior officials, some of which he has sought to replace.
~ Armitage told the BBC global challenges to the west required ‘‘very serious, engaged politicians with a sense of purpose”.
“Politicians should go into politics to do good for their country,” he added.
“That is the overwhelming reason to be in politics. I don’t think it’s about your own personal sense of getting to the top of a snakes-and-ladders game.”
Armitage is right, but I have no sympathy for his belated sense of remorse. The signs were there at the beginning of Johnson's premiership. Perhaps he should have looked more closely before writing his cheques.
