Sajid: Point of no return

• Radhakrishna N S
• 24 September, 2020

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By: Radhakrishna N S

By Amit Roy

IT IS claimed that Sajid Javid and Boris Johnson remain on friend­ly terms, but there are in­dications “our Saj” is not expecting a quick recall to government.

Seven months after he resigned as chancellor on February 14 – Valentine’s Day, incidentally, though there was little love lost between him and Domi­nic Cummings who effec­tively engineered his de­parture – Sajid has taken a job at an undisclosed salary with JP Morgan as a member of the invest­ment bank’s advisory council for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The Advisory Commit­tee on Business Appoint­ments (ACOBA) – it lays down rules for ministers taking a job in the private sector within two years of leaving government – has warned that the former chancellor’s “privileged access to information” carries “potential risks”.

More to the point, Sa­jid has declared he can­not support the prime minister’s decision to flout the Withdrawal Agreement signed with EU and by-pass the Brexit treaty with an Internal Market Bill. He said: “I am regretfully unable to support the UK Internal Market Bill unamended. One of Britain’s greatest strengths and traditions is respect for the rule of law. Breaking international law is a step that should never be taken lightly.”

It is worth remember­ing most of the Tory MPs who opposed Boris before the general election have been forced out of politics.

Sajid has been an im­portant ethnic minority role model, but the halo which surrounded him as the first Asian home sec­retary has vanished. Only last year he topped Eastern Eye’s Power List. A return to the cabinet cannot be ruled out, but by attacking Boris in robust terms, he has made it less likely.