Conflict of interest warning as Osborne ‘advises’ on Budget while working for bank

Jump to contentSign up to our newslettersSubscribeNewsSportsVoicesCultureLifestyleTravelPremiumLabour has warned of a possible conflict of interest following reports that George Osborne has been advising the chancellor on his Budget while working for a City investment bank.Mr Osborne, who served as chancellor between 2010 and 2016, held a meeting with Jeremy Hunt ahead of Thursday’s key autumn statement.Labour said Mr Osborne should not be given access to “market-sensitive” information and urged the Treasury to disclose exactly what discussions he had been privy to.Approached by The Independent, a Treasury spokesperson denied that Mr Osborne was providing economic advice and said the former Tory MP did not have access to sensitive information.Mr Osborne has been employed by investment bank Robey Warshaw since February.Treasury officials said the contact pre-dated the Budget and did not amount to ‘ongoing engagement’.But shadow city minister Tulip Siddiq said she was ‘deeply concerned’ that Mr Osborne had spoken to the chancellor and said it could pose a ‘potential conflict of interest’.’Sensitive information on Treasury policy, if inappropriately handled, could result in insider trading, disorder in UK markets and put the economic security of the British public at risk,’ she said. Thursday’s statement will set out the economic course Britain will take under Rishi Sunak, and is likely to contain significant tax rises and cuts to public spending.Such information is highly sought after by City investors looking to get ahead of the financial markets. ‘The chancellor can’t just sneak his old friend George Osborne into the Treasury through the backdoor without any appropriate public scrutiny of his business dealings outside of parliament,’ said Ms Siddiq.’Any potential conflict of interest could have serious implications for the UK’s reputation as safe and fair place to invest. Lesley Sutcliffe shelters from the rain next to a life-sized replica of the innermost coffin of King Tutankhamun by artist Amanda Stoner as it goes on display inside a traditional red telephone box which has been converted into a museum, in Barnsley, South YorkshirePAMembers of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statementEPAEngland celebrate winning the men’s T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, AustraliaAAP Image/ReutersThe City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor’s ShowPACity workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd’s of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World WarPAA grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morningPAAustralia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, LondonPAA migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, KentPAHandout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorwayPAA grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UKPADemonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of ParliamentAFP via Getty ImagesA peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty ImagesFlorence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyong’o attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in LondonGettyA red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, ScotlandReutersEngland’s Tara-Jane Stanley scores their side’s seventh try against Brazil during the Women’s Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, LeedsPAGB’s James Hall competes during the men’s parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in LiverpoolAFP/GettyPeople dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, DorsetPAMembers of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a ‘Just Stop Oil’ protest, in LondonReutersA cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in LondonReuters98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay’s Galleria in central LondonPAA meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichmentPAKing Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new governmentPARishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative PartyReutersThe Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market’s annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemicPASculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the ‘Planet A’ Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire townPABritain’s Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignationAFP/GettySalmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migrationPAJust Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the groupPAHundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator’s Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in FifePAA protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction RebellionAFP/GettyA member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a “Just Stop Oil” protest, in London, BritainREUTERSGermany’s Women’s double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, PembrokeshirePAFamily and mourners arrive at St Michael’s Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on FridayPAMotorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colourPAA woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrisePAPolice officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, LondonPAA drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, LondonPATimothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, LondonPATwo young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublin’s Phoenix park as rutting season beginsPAThe Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern IrelandPAGreenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conferencePAPrime Minister Liz Truss and Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in BirminghamAFP/GettyBritish artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist’s trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodlesPAErling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City’s second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3.Manchester City FC/GettyProtesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don’t Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the dayAFP/GettyBritish Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her government’s mini-budgetGettyThe Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i’r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 yearsPACriminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the GovernmentPADavid White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III ‘CIIIR’, after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central LondonAFP/GettyA gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud – Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 – on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition – Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in LondonPA’If this failing Conservative government has learnt any lessons at all from the market chaos and damage caused to the UK’s global standing in recent weeks, they must respond to the questions set out in my letter as a matter of urgency.’If we were leading the autumn statement this week, Labour would be making fairer choices and putting forward our proper plan for growth.’A Treasury spokesperson said: ‘The individual in question does not provide economic advice to the Treasury and has no access to market-sensitive information.’All due care is taken to ensure members of the Economic Advisory Council – who attend in an independent capacity – are not privy to any material non-public information, or market sensitive information.’MPs last month demanded an inquiry into possible insider trading resulting from Kwasi Kwarteng’s September mini-Budget after it emerged the then chancellor had met with various financiers before setting out his plan for the economy. Prior to his resignation, there were reports Mr Kwarteng attended a champagne reception with hedge fund managers who were said to have ‘egged on’ his plan to make £45bn of unfunded tax cuts – a plan which later sent financial markets haywire.Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalismBy registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalistsAlready have an account? sign inRegistration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalismBy registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalistsAlready have an account? sign inGeorge OsborneBudgetJeremy HuntFormer chancellor George Osborne is employed by investment bank Robey WarshawEPAPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in