Beleaguered Alistair Darling faces reshuffle axe
PM refuses to rule out moving friend as chancellor admits expenses error
- The Guardian, Tuesday 2 June 2009
Alistair Darling was clinging on to his job tonight after he was forced into a humiliating apology for mistakes made on his expenses claims, and Gordon Brown declined to offer him his full backing.
With the prime minister preparing for a wide-ranging reshuffle following Thursday's European and local elections, Darling's position was weakened as he announced he would pay back £350 after it emerged he had over-claimed on service charges for a London flat.
Brown is braced for a backbench challenge to his leadership after the election results. But he is banking on a bold reshuffle to re-establish his political authority.
The prime minister had initially defended Darling, an old friend, but later did nothing to discourage speculation that he is considering shifting the chancellor, possibly offering him the post of home secretary.
Brown insisted Darling was doing a good job, but twice referred to his chancellorship in the past tense, and rejected repeated offers to state that Darling was not going to be moved.
In a series of TV interviews, Darling appeared characteristically resigned to his fate, saying it was "the prime minister's call" whether he was removed, adding that no minister could resist the decision of a prime minister. "It is up to the prime minister. He has got to decide the team that he wants to be in the next government," he said.
But it is known that Darling, privately frustrated at the error over his expenses, wants to remain at the Treasury and believed, until yesterday, that he would not be shifted.
Three different names were being canvassed as potential successors: the favourite, Ed Balls, the children's secretary; and two less divisive figures, Ed Miliband, the climate change secretary, and his brother, David Miliband, the foreign secretary. It is known that the Milibands would like to stay in their current jobs, but Brown, in his last reshuffle when he returned Lord Mandelson to government, showed a capacity to surprise.
Some ministers also said yesterday it would be "catastrophic" for Balls to be given the job since he had been at the Treasury for 10 years and had already admitted errors over the regulation of the City during his period as a minister. It was even being claimed that the briefing against Darling had been a pre-emptive effort to stop Balls getting the job.
But the Guardian learned last night that Mandelson, an old foe of the children's secretary, would not oppose his move to No 11.
The cabinet will discuss tomorrow its approach to constitutional reform, with some ministers still hoping to reach a consensus with the other main parties. But disagreements within the cabinet may delay any announcements for a week at a time when Brown is attempting to show leadership on cleaning up Westminster.
A poll for Ipsos-Mori today showed Labour in dire trouble, 22 points behind the Conservatives. Labour were on 18%, 10 points down from last month.
Darling openly admitted he had made a mistake in submitting a £1,004.30 claim for the service charge at his flat in Kennington, south London, covering a six-month period from 24 June to 24 December 2007. He became chancellor at the end of June 2007.
Darling conceded his error but said he was still living in the flat when he made the claim. "What I did, when I was living in my flat in Kennington, is to reclaim the cost of the service charge which is payable over a six-month period," he told Sky News. "I left that flat in September 2007. "I don't want to be seen to be getting any gain from that so I am going to repay the balance of that [£668]. That is the right thing to do. I am sorry about that. I unreservedly apologise." Darling's apology marked a change of tack after he initially said he had done nothing wrong. Treasury sources said the chancellor issued a firm denial of wrongdoing on Sunday night in response to a more serious allegation in the Daily Telegraph – that he had claimed allowances for two properties at the same time.
The Telegraph reported that Darling submitted the service charge on his London flat while designating 11 Downing Street as his second home, allowing him to claim food allowances at his grace and favour residence. Darling again denied this charge. "I did not claim on two houses at the same time," he said .
Darling submitted the service charge for his London flat in July 2007 while he was still living there. The flat was designated as his second property, allowing him to claim parliamentary allowances. He moved into 11 Downing Street in September 2007 and designated it as his second home, allowing him to claim food allowances at his grace and favour residence.
The chancellor has been under pressure on his expenses in recent weeks after he switched the designation of his homes, a process known as "flipping", allowing him to claim parliamentary expenses on his second properties.
David Cameron said the chancellor was "clearly in serious difficulties", adding: "I think what matters is that the prime minister either backs him or sacks him."
The transport secretary, Geoff Hoon, also seen as vulnerable in the reshuffle, last night agreed to pay back £384 after wrongly claiming for bills.
The Labour MP Jim Devine was last night referred to Labour's "star chamber". The Sunday Herald reported that a £2,157 bill for rewiring Devine's second home in London had an invalid postcode and VAT number. Devine told the West Lothian Courier: "As an MP do I have to check the VAT numbers of every company I use?"
The Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, took a rare personal line, saying: "I think … it is absolutely right that the person who is in charge of the national finances should be someone who is regarded with moral authority … I don't think the chancellor is in that position."
- guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2009
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