Cameron could be more explicit about Rolls Royce link

David Cameron was clearly pleased with himself at his press conference this morning, although at times he can come off a touch too self-congratulatory. There are still complications with Tory policy in some areas, and Benedict Brogan has charted the risks with the Tories' position on helping those affecting the 10p rate.

A second possible flank may open up. At the start of the press conference this morning, he pledged in his opening statement that the Tories would be working with Rolls-Royce as a beacon of British manufacturing, embedding his policy teams with the company. The Press Association has helpfully filed quotes below.

He didn't mention, however, that the (non-exec) Chairman of Rolls Royce is Simon Robertson, one of the main funders of George Osborne's office (see Register of Members' Interests and the Electoral Commission donees register) to the tune of £75,000 and has also given over £200,000 to the Conservative Party.

When asked about this, and whether Mr Cameron should have been upfront about the party's financial links to the Rolls Royce chairman, a party spokeswoman said in a message: "I honestly don't think you can make a story out of this on this occasion" (they may have scored big in the local elections but they don't yet own the media). She said that Robertson donates on a private level and has had nothing to do with negotiating this deal.

That may be true, but it is still perfectly acceptable to question who is funding the Tory operation and who benefits from it (as Rolls Royce surely will, by being championed by the Tory leader) . After the criticism for the lack of transparency over who funds Mr Osborne's office, surely this way danger lies...

Click below to see Mr Cameron's words in full...

1 POLITICS Cameron Rolls

CAMERON PLEDGES A ROLLS-ROYCE MANUFACTURING REVIVAL<QA1>
By Joe Churcher, PA Political Correspondent<QA1>
The Conservative Party will work closely with Rolls-Royce as part of efforts to create a “modern manufacturing revival”, party leader David Cameron announced today.
He hailed the firm as “one of Britain’s greatest business and export success stories” and said it would help the Tories understand the needs of the modern economy.
Speaking at his monthly press conference, he told MPs: “We want to understand in detail the factors that contribute to successful science, technology, engineering and manufacturing in the 21st century - and what government can do to help put those factors in place for British industry as a whole.
“Members of our policy teams will be embedded within Rolls-Royce teams - both in the UK and internationally. We will hold a manufacturing summit later in the year to investigate how to engineer a modern manufacturing revival in this country.
“And I’m looking forward on a personal level to benefiting from the advice and expertise of this great British company.” He said the Government regulated and taxed where it “should be getting out of
the way”. “And where they should be intelligently engaged, such as on research and
innovation, education and skills and transport infrastructure, they’re not doing
nearly enough.
“The next Conservative Government must get this right. Creating a strong economy will be the foundation of everything we hope to achieve.”
end

Comments

[Chuck Unsworth]

Well you're right to ask if anyone benefits from this relationship. Can you indicate whether this is the case so far and who has benefitted? What you have done is drawn a link between the two organisations which is somewhat tenuous.

Let's wait and see, shall we? After all, it's not as if we have a Conservative government just yet. And one might question the links between a Labour Party (and Government!) and Trades Unions.

[Helpful troll]

I'm a Tory, but Osborne has to go. He's hopelessly out of his depth:

- Osborne takes money from Northern Rock investors. He then supports their case against nationalisation.

- Osborne takes money from the banks, and then is weak in his calls for regulatory reforms of them, backing huge bail-outs (even Fraser Nelson says "I have heard some senior Tories say in private. The charge is that Osborne has come back from Wall St having swallowed what the banks told him in his proposal that that the government should swap mortgage-based assets for government bonds." http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/619411/cable-vs-osborne.thtml )

- And the Party has a 'pro-manufacturing' position now that we take money from Rolls Royce.

Ace.