Hitchin Lib Dems PPC Chris Lucas slams Rishi Sunak's decision to bring back unelected David Cameron with 'disgraced' former PM still mired in allegations of Tory sleaze

By Layth Yousif

13th Nov 2023 | Local News

Hitchin Lib Dems PPC Chris Lucas says Rishi Sunak's reshuffle is the equivalent of rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic’ from a broken Tory Government
Hitchin Lib Dems PPC Chris Lucas says Rishi Sunak's reshuffle is the equivalent of rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic’ from a broken Tory Government

Hitchin's Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate has criticised the PM's decision to bring unelected former leader David Cameron back into government.

Chris Lucas, who will be fighting the new seat of Hitchin at the next General Election, has criticised Rishi Sunak's judgement in appointing the unelected Cameron.

Cameron still remains a stark reminder of the damage austerity and Brexit wreaked upon the country, during his leadership, and in the aftermath of the leave vote.

Mr Lucas, who will be attempting to win the seat of Hitchin from present incumbent Bim Afolami MP, has been speaking to Hitchin Nub News after the cabinet reshuffle.

Downing Street announced on Monday (November 13) Cameron would join the government, accepting a peerage in order to do so, as part of a wider reshuffle in which Braverman was sacked.

Commenting on the former PM making a surprise comeback, in which Suella Braverman was replaced by James Cleverly as home secretary, Mr Lucas said: "Sunak has 350 elected MPs to choose from, but he can't find one from his colleagues competent enough to be Foreign Secretary.

"So he has to bring back an unelected former PM? It gives 'scraping the bottom of the barrel' a whole new dimension."

Cameron has also been embroiled in a scandal stemming from two years ago, when he lobbied government ministers to provide financing for the now-insolvent financial services company Greensill Capital.

A parliamentary inquiry found Cameron had shown a 'significant lack of judgment' over a lobbying campaign for a financial services company in which he held a personal economic interest, Greensill Capital, which collapsed in 2021.

The former PM, now called Lord Cameron after being handed a Life Peerage, also made headlines in October when he disagreed with Sunak's decision to cancel the HS2 high-speed train line between Birmingham and Manchester, saying: "We are heading in the wrong direction."

Mr Lucas, whose Lib Dems Hitchin campaign HQ was recently daubed with paint - in an attack Herts Police are still investigating in an attempt to ascertain whether it was racially or politically motivated - also blasted the divisive Braverman.

Responding to the news that Braverman had been given the sack, Mr Lucas said: "This is yet more 'rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic' from a broken Tory Government.

"The ex Home Secretary was never fit for the job in the first place and should have been sacked long ago, but for the PM's cowardice.

"She now joins the long list of ex-Ministers, and they're so short of personnel that they had to bring back a disgraced former PM to fill a senior cabinet role. 

"It doesn't seem that the current Hitchin & Harpenden MP, Mr Afolami, has finally been given a senior role, however, despite the shortage of candidates."

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Mr Lucas is the Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the new seat of Hitchin

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