London Diary: Rishi Sunak dogged by accusations that he benefited from the 2008 financial crash

It’s the culture, stupid

Why has Pakistan ended up as an economic basket case? Why are the economies of most of the Middle East countries, outside the oil-rich Gulf bubble, struggling? Why is Africa always hovering on the edge of an economic crisis? Not to mention the economic slowdown in India?

Bad governance? Corruption? Political instability? Banish the thought. It’s the culture, stupid. If a new study by British and American academics is to be believed, it’s all down to their illiberal cultural values —lack of democracy, religious intolerance, disregard for the individual and minority rights etc.

Their theory, based on a global survey that covered more than a million people across 109 countries, links economic prosperity— or lack of it —to cultural factors. It argues that tolerance, openness and secularism are the first “steps towards economic prosperity”. Societies which are secular, tolerant of minority groups, and respectful of individuals’ rights tend to be wealthier and more prosperous, it claims.

Scientists from the University of Bristol (UK) and University of Tennessee (US), who conducted the research, describe cultural values as the “software of a society” , and if it goes wrong the society pays a heavy price in the form of loss of economic growth and prosperity. Anyone in Delhi listening?

How Rishi Sunak made “millions”

Much has been written about Rishi Sunak’s “meteoric rise” since his elevation as Chancellor of the Exchequer, but what has not been widely reported is how he benefited from the 2008 financial crash that condemned ordinary Britons to a decade of economic deprivation.

A former investment whizz kid, Sunak was part of a group of hedge fund managers who shared nearly £100m after an audacious stock market bet that triggered the financial crisis, according to The Times newspaper.

He was a partner at the hedge fund TCI when it launched a campaign against the Dutch bank ABN Amro forcing its sale to the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) triggering a chain of events leading to the crash. “His role in TCI between 2006-2009 made him a millionaire in his mid-twenties,” the paper said.

Questions have also been raised about his links to a company which was found to have used a tax avoidance scheme. He is under pressure to provide fuller details of his career as a financial honcho before he joined politics.

“Clearly Mr Sunak has questions to answer about his past activities and associations,” Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said.

Sunak and his wife, Akshata (better known as Infosys founder Narayana Murthy’s daughter), share a property portfolio so big that it would put Arab oil tycoons and Russian oligarchs to shame. Spread across Britain and America it is collectively estimated to be worth nearly £10m. It includes their main London home in fashionable Kensington which alone is said to be worth £7m.

And to think the couple are only 39.

Indian ascendancy

Meanwhile, with Sunak’s promotion two of Britain’s three “great offices of the state” are now held by persons of Indian origin. The other is the Home Office headed by Priti Patel, who like Sunak is also a hardline Brexiteer and Boris Johnson “bhakt”.

Indian “nationalists” of a certain kind are particularly excited over Sunak’s promotion because he replaces his Pakistani-origin boss, Sajid Javid. Another Indian origin minister who has been handed an important portfolio is Alok Sharma who becomes Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

In sharp contrast, Pakistani community has no representation in the new Cabinet —a far cry from the time when the Conservative Party took pride in appointing the first Muslim woman (the Pakistani-origin Sayeeda Warsi) as a Cabinet minister. The party has since been embroiled in a row over allegations of Islamophobia with none other than Warsi leading the charge.

Vegan bandwagon

If you thought being vegan was just a worthy lifestyle choice, think again. In Britain, it’s now recognised as an ethical and philosophical belief— in the same league as religious belief and therefore deserving of similar protection from discrimination in workplace. This after a vegan worker dragged his employers to court claiming he was sacked because of his belief in veganism.

This means British employers, already groaning under the weight of an ever-lengthening list of anti-discrimination “dos” and “don’ts”, will now have to contend with one more if they wish to stay on the right side of the equality law. Promptly, as if on cue, the Vegan Society has rushed out an elaborate guideline to employers about how to look after their vegan staff.

It includes designating food storage areas for them such as a shelf in the fridge above non-vegan foods; providing milk alternatives for making tea and coffee; ensuring that vegans have access to vegan-friendly clothing such as synthetic safety boots; and exempting vegans from attending corporate events like horse-racing or barbeques.

Suddenly, vegetarianism seems so “yesterday”.

And, lastly, a senior cabinet minister sacked by Boris Johnson in the recent reshuffle has said he got a hint of things to come two days earlier when his official luxury limousine was suddenly replaced by a lowly Skoda!