Corruption by omission. The British way

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Update 19 August 2016 – Private Eye have had a stab at this story:

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Today it has been widely reported that the Sunday Times has published, in an “unprecedented leak”, the  list of David Cameron’s resignation honours. What is very significant about the Sunday Times article is what it does not say.

Camilla Cavendish used to be Associate Editor of the Sunday Times. She was a contemporary of Cameron’s at Oxford, on the same course as him, at the same college. She was also a colleague at Pearson plc of previous HSBC director and current BBC Trust Chair Rona Fairhead.

Last year, before the election, Sunday Times Home Affairs correspondent  Tom Harper was investigating the HSBC fraud story and Cameron’s involvement in covering it up. The intention was to publish an article before the election. I worked with Tom Harper for 4-6 weeks on the story. During that period Camilla Cavendish attended a meeting with Cameron at his country residence, Chequers. The story was dropped and I was told by Harper on the day before publication was due, only because I asked. No explanation was given.

Cameron was duly re-elected to Number 10 and two months later Camilla Cavendish left the Sunday Times for her new job as head of the Policy Unit at 10 Downing Street.

Cameron has now resigned and has chosen to award honours to people who have assisted him. It was reported that he intended to award Cavendish a peerage. However, this list was blocked by Whitehall because of the “unsuitability” of some of the recipients. This is from the Times on 22 July:

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In the Sunday Times report today, headlined “Revealed: Cameron’s honours for cronies” there is no mention of Camilla Cavendish. This raises several interesting questions. Is Camilla Cavendish not a crony? Is she being offered a peerage, and if so why is this not reported? Is she one of the “unsuitable” recipients, and if so why was this not reported? Since Cameron is no longer in Downing Street does Cavendish want her old job back at the Sunday Times? Was she the source of the leak?

Here is the Sunday Times article:

Revealed- Cameron’s honours for cronies News The Times & The Sunday Times