“George Osborne has received a stern letter from the Government’s lobbying watchdog over his activities since being sacked by Theresa May.
The former chancellor initially failed to declare that he was setting up a Northern Powerhouse think-tank despite having launched the same policy as Chancellor.
The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) was only told of Mr Osborne’s plans after they appeared in the press.
Former ministers are barred from lobbying the Government for two years after they leave office and “must seek advice from Acoba about any appointments or employment they wish to take up within two years of leaving office”.
The body however has no actual powers to sanction Mr Osborne for the late declaration.
In a letter to Mr Osborne, Acoba said: “The Committee would also remind you that advice should be sought on all appointments, paid or unpaid, before they are taken up or announced.”
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said: “The Chancellor has been rapped over the knuckles for not following due process – having been in the government for the last few years he should know these rules and abide by them.”
East Devon Watch 
Ooooh! A stern letter. I bet George is shaking in his boots now.
P.S. I found a copy of the government’s punishment handbook for MPs on the internet last night. The punishments in increasing order of severity are:
A quiet word
A quiet word from a lesser whip
A quiet word from the chief whip
A private letter alluding to it
A private letter mentioning it in passing
A blunt private letter
A non-attributable private briefing (i.e. a leak) to a newspaper alluding to it
A leak to a newspaper mentioning it in passing
A leak to a newspaper directly about it
A public letter
A stern public letter
A very stern public letter
A very very stern public letter
A formal rebuke
An internal inquiry with report kept quiet
An internal inquiry with report leaked
An internal inquiry with report formally published
A public inquiry
(NB All of the above can be administered without any real pain or lasting consequences. A few do have some minor consequences.)
Being made to repay what they embezzled without further consequences
A minor thrashing by a lesser whip
A sound thrashing by the chief whip (hence the job title)
And only if forced to do so by the most extreme public opinion and pressure from the press:
A referral to the police.
There were a couple more serious punishments that are no longer used:
2 hours in a pillory being pelted with rotten vegetables – discontinued because the public felt that was unfair on the rotten vegetables
Beheading – discontinued after a marble statue of Margaret Thatcher on loan to the Guildhall was beheaded in 2002 – not as many think after Charles I was beheaded in the palace courtyard in 1649
NB After Paul Kelleher was convicted for decapitating the statue, most Tory MPs voted for the reintroduction of beheading for criminal damage to statues of beloved former Tory PMs – but this vote in the 1922 Committee was hushed up.
However, rumour has it that they are considering introducing a new punishment, but cannot decide whether it should be above or below “a minor thrashing” in the list – to be forced to work as a minor minister in the Foreign Office under Boris.
Rumour also has it that this is the real reason that our Hugo was relegated to the back benches – Boris refused to work with him despite their common Eton alumni-ship, though not through any ideological or political differences because our Hugo simply refused to accept his role as Foreign Office fag (see Tom Brown’s Schooldays for cultural reference.)
P.S. In case Our Hugo is reading this and has a sense of humour failure, please see http://www.dictionary.com/browse/satire
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