I was flattered to be asked this morning to be Company Secretary of a newly formed, not for profit, UK company.
As we say in Ireland, I was charmed. Obviously my financial acumen as Treasurer of the Irish Peers’ Association for four decades had been a big plus. “The efficient Bellew is the man we want to boost our business” was the impression I got.
Now, imagine you are watching a movie, and the scene shifts to Chipping Norton a few years ago. The man you see in the bijoux shepherds’ hut is not a shepherd. He is former Prime Minister, David Cameron; like me he has had a job offer. His from an Australian company called Greenswill (sic).
I have little in common with David Cameron, never having being a member of White’s or Prime Minister but you might think we might have a similar mindset? Wrong. I immediately turned down a post for which I am unqualified although I support the intentions of the company.
Cameron, likewise, possibly, supported the ambitions of Greenswill. In the United Staes there is generous financial provision for former Presidents – not the case in the UK where there is a small parliamentary pension. So he needs a job. Of course he cannot look for jobs himself, standing outside an employment agency in the rain, and has an agent. The agent gets a fee related to the salary and package. Greenswill, as we now know, paid top dollar. I am saddened that a basically decent chap could have fallen for such a scam without asking a few questions – but he did because he devoted his life to politics for two decades and lost touch.
Meanwhile, I will write about Aunt Ada another day, relating the wedding she wasn’t invited to, the butler she didn’t sack and other stories that make me laugh and cry.