Two letters – one from Nandy explaining that she was found to have broken the Governance Code on Public Appointments by appointing donor David Kogan as chairman of the football regulator – and one from Starmer ticking her off. It ain’t easy being sleazy…
Read them below:
“Dear Prime Minister,
COMMISSIONER FOR PUBLIC APPOINTMENTS’ REPORT INTO THE APPOINTMENT OF THE CHAIR OF THE INDEPENDENT FOOTBALL REGULATOR
I am writing to you following the publication of the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ report into the appointment of the Chair of the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) released today.
The Commissioner’s conclusions include a finding that I unknowingly breached an aspect of the Governance Code on Public Appointments. I deeply regret this error. I appreciate the perception it could create, but it was not deliberate and I apologise for it.
I welcome the clear recognition that I did not know about two donations I received as a leadership candidate in 2020, when I was a backbench opposition MP, and that as soon as I discovered these donations existed, I chose to declare them and recuse myself from the process.
I want to assure you that I took robust steps before the process began to check the Electoral Commission and Parliamentary register for any donations I had received since I became a Member of Parliament in 2010, and made proactive enquiries with former campaign staff. None of these clear steps identified the donations in question.
The Commissioner for Public Appointments is independent and must come to his own view. I hope you are reassured that throughout this process I have acted proactively, openly and with integrity at every stage.
I am pleased the report makes no finding on Mr Kogan’s suitability for this role. His appointment has been widely and warmly welcomed and endorsed by the cross-party Select Committee, who I personally ensured were aware of these donations before they came to this conclusion.The challenges faced by Sheffield Wednesday and other clubs demonstrate the urgency of his work. I am delighted that the Government has been able to appoint such an outstanding candidate and remain determined to ensure nothing is allowed to prevent this Government from delivering on our mission to put football fans back at the heart of the game, where they belong.”
The PM’s one:
“Dear Lisa,
Thank you for your letter responding to the findings of today’s report by the independent Commissioner for Public Appointments, and your apology for the error.
I note the Commissioner’s findings that the error was unknowing and I accept your assurance there was no intentional or deliberate action on your part to undermine the expectations set out in the Governance Code on Public Appointments.
I know you to be a person of integrity and on the basis of your letter, it is clear you have acted in good faith.
The Commissioner acknowledges that you acted swiftly to step back from the appointment when you became aware of the perception of a conflict of interest.
Nonetheless, the process followed was not entirely up to the standard expected and I welcome your Department’s willingness to cooperate with the Commissioner and the Cabinet Office to learn lessons and to improve the guidance on handling conflicts of interests.
I also recognise that the report in no way casts any doubt on the suitability of Mr Kogan for the important role of Chair of the Independent Football Regulator. It is important now that the Government gets on with delivering our manifesto commitment to make Britain the best place in the world to be a football fan.”
