Sunday, January 06, 2008

Stephen Ladyman prepares for next election by getting new job



Stephen Ladyman once again gets himself in the newspapers for all the wrong reasons, and reading between the lines it looks like he is preparing for a bit of a disappointment, come the next general election.


First off this weekend he crops up in the Kent on Sunday Newspaper (rather unfairly) in connection with local business man Ken Wills who has funded the labour party to the tune of £25,000, nothing wrong with that. Mr Wills has apparently a memorandum of understanding with Chinese businesses to lease a large parcel of land and hopes this will attract a 1000 jobs. What might be interesting is whether this business development will require any input from our local authorities in the form infrastructure provision. Remember Broadstairs property company Commercial Group Properties Plc arranged for Sandy Ezekiel and others to go on a junket paid for by the Chinese government, late last year. The only thing that bothers me is that old saying "there is no such thing as a free lunch" or junket?

Second in todays Sunday Times (click here) you can just imagine the ethical dilemma, faced by Stephen Ladyman as he takes on a job with Ltis Holdings as an adviser, not surprisingly in this country's weak regulation and lose ethical environment the advisory committee that vets jobs taken by former ministers has given the thumbs up. Of course Ladyman is not alone in moonlighting whilst representing his constituents, many MP's positively boast about their sidelines, since it gives them experience outside of Westminster, funny how they never take jobs as shelf fillers, warehouse workers or labourers.

Good luck to Mr Ladyman I think he will need it, since as a former transport minister he certainly has the experience for Ltis Holdings as their firm is producing road pricing technology. If you don't know what road pricing is, in simple terms its a way of charging a motorist when their driving, particularly handy for local authority leaches, since obviously you cannot clamp or fine a moving vehicle, very successful in London where most of the revenue goes providing bureaucrats with a job, since they would otherwise be unemployable.

I cannot help thinking that those in Thanet South, will not necessarily warm to Mr Ladymans new sideline, helping advise a company whose business is to make your freedom to travel less er free. I cannot help thinking that Laura Sandys the Tory candidate for Thanet South will be checking her calender just to make sure Christmas hasn't arrive early, already.

With so much social upheaval since labour took office it would be nice if he or one of his Labour colleagues could look at the social and economic damage done by Britain's open or no boarders policy.It seems that Labour have reached the same point as did the Conservatives regarding public standards, still look at the last Labour leader who's trousering millions on after dinner speeches.

Still just to come back to the Kent on Sunday, Headline "No conflict of interests" er yes ex-minister.

6 comments:

  1. I thought the Parliamentary ethics lot had introduced guide-lines on taking up 'consultancies' etc after just leaving a Ministerial post and that a time limit was imposed. He is quite clearly following the gravy train as far as it will take him and will use all his 'useful' contacts, gained whilst being minister and paid by tax-payers. What is the time limit?

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  2. Dont suppose he has had time to notice 1.8 million sign an online petition against road pricing.

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  3. The words 'snout' and 'trough' spring to mind.

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  4. One of us must be psychic as we both appear to have written similar stories without reading the other's first.. really bizarre!

    I never thought we lived in parallel political universes Tony!

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  5. East its a fact that power corrupts

    Simon I do admit to being inspired by your self and others if only to set the record straight, I might lean to the left but I sometimes punch from the right.

    on this I posted about 20 hours earlier it would have been sooner but I like to check I haven't gone too far.

    The golden days are over for Labour not surprisingly Labour MP's are getting into the life boats.

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  6. There's room fo ryou yet as a councillor I hope Tony. Regardless of the party you might choose to support, I'm confident that you could do a great deal of good, if you're prepared to put up with the frequently real frustration that goes with it.

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