Young’s appointment shows Cameron’s pragmatism

Sir George Young into the shadow Cabinet. What does it say about a David Cameron government?

It tells you of a strain of pragmatism that runs through the Conservative leader.

He has seriously upset his own parliamentary troops in recent times – marching them out for punishment repayments as part of his strategy for proving that he “gets it” over the whole expenses saga.

Equally, forcing his MPs to reveal what they earn outside parliament has been infuriating to many – particularly those who think the leader is better heeled than they are.Bringing in an urbane House of Commons man who was never at the Robespierre end of the expenses reform spectrum will reassure some. 

Sir George is on the record as backing transparency in outside earnings but raising all sorts of practical problems he sees in the innovation.

As for what it means for reform of expenses, that’s largely now in the hands of Sir Christopher Kelly’s Committee on Standards in Public Life… party leaders have all but said they will adopt what comes out of the Kelly report.

Sir George Young, for his part, believes that the biggest reforms have already happened and that transparency on expenses, publishing receipts, has changed behaviour.

Two other bits of pragmatism… the cult of youth that worries so many Tory MPs can be cast aside for a 68-year-old when it suits, and there is still no quota on Old Etonians, no matter how much some would like to see one. We now await David Cameron’s latest plans for “cutting the cost of politics” in a speech at lunchtime today.