COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

David Cameron is at the centre of a cash-for-peerages row following the appointment of two wealthy Tory backers to the House of Lords.



Financier and party co-treasurer Michael Farmer and businessman Ranbir Suri are among 12 new Conservative working peers announced today by the Prime Minister.

According to an analysis by the Electoral Reform Society (ERS), which campaigns for an elected upper chamber, Mr Farmer has donated more than £6.5 million to the Conservatives.

Mr Singh, a former general secretary of the Board of British Sikhs, has contributed a further £312,435 - either personally or through his company Oceanic Jewellers, the ERS said.

ERS chief executive Katie Ghose said such appointments meant wealthy political donors were effectively able to buy a place in the legislature.

"These appointments further cement the impression that to get into the House of Lords, all you have to do is write a fat cheque to a political party or be a party hack," she said.

"The second chamber is a crucial part of our political system, with real legislative power. It cannot be right that people are effectively able to buy a seat at the highest level of politics."

The ERS said that of the 21 new working peers appointed by the three main political parties, six had made donations to them - either directly to the party or to individual candidates - while 16 had held some form of previous political position.

It said that of the new Liberal Democat peers, Barbara Janke, former leader of Bristol City Council, has donated £5,498, while ex-Sheffield City Council leader Paul Scriven has given £2,000.

On the Labour side, ex-East Enders actor Michael Cashman has donated £2,500 while the publisher and chair of Penguin Random House, Dame Gail Rebuck, has given £2,000.

The ERS pointed out that Dame Gail's late husband, Labour peer Lord Gould, had also previously made donations totalling £31,250.

David Cameron sends former boss of tax-dodging Google to the House of Lords

David Cameron faced fresh accusations of cronyism last night after he sent a former boss of the tax-avoiding firm Google to the Lords.

Joanna Shields, the Prime Minister’s digital adviser who used to be in charge of the internet giant’s Europe division, was among 22 ‘working’ peers nominated by the main political parties yesterday.

The appointment will deepen concerns that the Conservatives are too close to Google and that the company has the ear of the Government on sensitive topics.

The party’s links to the firm are also controversial because Google was accused of tax avoidance after paying just £11.6million to the Treasury in 2012, despite generating £3.4billion of business in Britain.

Google bosses enjoy regular access to senior ministers, while some senior Conservative employees have taken jobs with the company.

For example Rachel Whetstone, Google’s global head of communications, is a close friend of the Camerons and is married to Steve Hilton, the Prime Minister’s ex-policy chief.

And Naomi Gummer, a former adviser to Jeremy Hunt when he was Culture Secretary, is now a public policy analyst at Google.

Miss Shields was the managing director of Google in Europe and Africa until 2006. She was also chief executive of Bebo, another social networking site, and is a former managing director of Facebook in Europe.

In 2012 she was unveiled as Mr Cameron’s digital adviser and chief executive of the government’s ‘Tech City’ to help boost internet start-ups in east London.

Miss Shields, a dual US and British national, is a non-executive director of the London Stock Exchange, and she sits on Boris Johnson’s ‘smart board’ which aims to establish London as Europe’s digital capital.

The Tories point out that, because she left Google in 2006, she has nothing to do with the recent tax-dodging allegations.

However, she was at Facebook from 2008 to 2012, around the time the firm was accused of avoiding tax.

There will now be speculation that Miss Shields, 52, will be offered a ministerial role. Last night Labour MP John Mann said: ‘This is showing two fingers to every taxpaying business and taxpayer in the country and it’s a green light to tax avoiders.’

MP John Mann said: ‘This is showing two fingers to every taxpaying business and taxpayer in the country...