Geoff Hoon was on the Today programme this morning. James Naughtie set out the charge list against him:
- That, as a retiring MP, he knowingly and deliberately spoke to a company that approached him about the possibility of his doing some work for them after the Election. (How awful!)
- That he contemplated advising a foreign firm on taking over poorly performing European defence firms. (Appalling!)
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Worse than that, that the firm in question was a US private equity fund! (Wicked!)
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That he suggested in his job interview that his past experience might leave him well-placed to offer strategic advice concerning which firms might be best to take over and how their business models might be improved. (Incredible!)
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That he spoke in confident and decisive terms to his interviewers, painting himself and the relevance of his experience in a positive light and suggesting that he would be a committed worker - employing terms such as "[After the Election is called,] I'm yours." (I can barely write, I so shake with anger!)
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Worst of all, that he didn't seem to have been thinking, in a conversation he thought was private, about the possibility that voters might regard the actions above as reflecting an unacceptable interest in money when he should have been devoting every minute of his day to their needs without thought for his own return. (<Rendered speechless>)
After such a dastardly set of acts, surely suspension from the Labour Party is far too generous. Something more drastic might be called for...
