Vince Cable, the architect of the popular Liberal Democrat attacks on the banking system, has received help worth nearly £80,000 over the past year from the City management consultants and auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers. The disclosure of the donation for work done for the company was not made until the last day of Parliament before the general election campaign.
It reveals that as long ago as April last year the Lib Dem Treasury team signed a deal so PwC would second a tax specialist to the Lib Dems from May to August last year to provide “ad hoc advice” on measures being introduced under Alistair Darling’s budget and general tax advice on Lib Dem tax policies.
The deal with PwC ran until February this year. It has come to light in the final register of MPs’ interests which was published last week while political journalists were concentrating on the election campaign. In his declaration Mr Cable says: “Total value £78,710 to Liberal Democrat Treasury team of which as a Shadow Chancellor I receive a significant share. Covers period April 2009 to February 2010.”
Mr Cable also discloses that since September he has been relying on the US financial service provider Bloomberg for all the latest financial information after they gave him a top of the range £1,150 a month package which allows him to access their services all over the world. This was also not disclosed until March 31.
Jeremy Browne, Lib Dem Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, told Tribune: “PricewaterhouseCoopers offer opposition parties the opportunity to second a junior member of staff to do leg work and provide advice. Neither Vince nor me benefit personally from this and no money changes hands. It is based on the costs a company would pay for hiring out a member of staff.” He could not explain why the Lib Dems had been so late in declaring the help.
The disclosure is one of a number revealing the cash and help received by MPs and opposition spokesmen released after the campaign began.
It also discloses that Tory Treasury frontbencher Mark Hoban, MP for Fareham, received £150,000 from the City office of US strategy and finance company Oliver Wyman to draw up plans for the regulation of the banks. The company, while confirming the work, would not comment on the details of the project. The firm has, however, defended some of the financial instruments used by banks which caused the crash. Other donors include Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB and the Groucho Club who gave donations in kind to Tory Shadow Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Labour frontbencher Chris Bryant declares a £2,500 donation in kind from Lowe Bell Communications – the company that bankrolled Margaret Thatcher’s election campaign.
