David Laws

There was a strange story going around yesterday that the Conservative / LibDems had refused to put up a panel member on Question Time where Alistair Campbell was representing Labour. The chosen one had been going to be David Laws, the Coalition Chief Secretary to the Treasury.


This morning’s Telegraph ‘outed’ Mr Laws as having paid rent to a live-in lover (male), one James Lundle, that rent coming from the public purse. I suppose the two stories are connected.

Mr Laws has offered to pay back the money and said that he kept the arrangement secret because he didn’t want his sexuality to come out, nor his relationship to Mr Lundle.

Now it seems to me that this is somewhat odd. Laws was born in 1965 and so for all but 2 years of his life homosexuality has been legal. Several MPs from all parties have declared themselves gay and he wouldn’t be the only gay man in the cabinet.

And if he really wanted to keep all this secret, why pay rent to his lover, inviting scrutiny? I’m afraid it looks as if he was simply on the fiddle.

This is a serious problem for Mr Cameron because Laws holds a pivotal position. He is in charge of the spending cuts and is probably the only senior LibDem who is sensible on this issue. If Laws goes, there will be a movement to have Vince Cable as Chief Secretary, which Osborne and the Treasury don’t want.

Cameron will try to keep him on. But he can’t, not in the present climate. You can’t say ‘An end to the old politics, we’re whiter than white’ and then have as Third Lord of the Treasury someone who has had his hands in the till.

Phillip Hammond, Transport Minister, had been an able Shadow Chief Secretary and should be put quickly into the job. The LibDems could supply a replacement at Transport, preferably someone not barking green.