Prime Minister Theresa May
LONDON, England — New British Prime Minister Theresa May has called on Dominica-born Baroness Scotland, the Commonwealth secretary general, to answer allegations of extravagant spending based on documents leaked from the Secretariat, saying Scotland would be judged on how she reformed the institution.
Speaking to reporters on a visit to India, the prime minister was asked about several days of reports connected to Scotland in relation to excessively large sums to refurbish the official residence of the secretary-general, the London Guardian reported.
The latest accusation is that Scotland was granted an “education allowance”, although her children are grown up. The allegations are said to have come from a whistleblower who used to work for the Commonwealth.
Other British newspapers joined in the chorus of criticism of Scotland, including an op-ed saying that she “must get a grip or quit”.
According to Oliver Kamm writing in The Times, “It’s a betrayal of the ethos of her organisation, at an especially terrible time in Britain’s external relations… Sadly, Lady Scotland gives every indication of treating her role as a sinecure rather that a public service. She needs to get a grip or go.”
The Mirror newspaper reported that May “piled pressure” on under-fire Scotland, who faces mounting criticism of her allegedly lavish spending on her official residence.
The Sun newspaper said that, in a withering putdown, May “told brazen Baroness Scotland she had one last chance to save her job as she waded into the row over the peer’s extraordinary spending.
Speaking in New Delhi, May said: “Obviously the UK is a strong supporter of the Commonwealth – we believe as an organisation it has a role to play in dealing with shared challenges around the world such as human rights.
“We believe it does need to operate as effectively and efficiently as possible. That means there does need to be reform of the secretariat. For Baroness Scotland, of course she needs to respond to the allegations that have been made. She will be judged on how she delivers on that need for reform for the Commonwealth secretariat to be operating effectively and efficiently.”
Scotland’s office has blamed “a profoundly disaffected individual” for leaking “false, misleading and distorted allegations”.
A spokesman said of May’s comments: “We are grateful for the prime minister’s support of the secretary general and appreciate her backing for the reforms secretary general Scotland is undertaking on behalf of the Commonwealth and its more than two billion citizens.”
Just days before she left for India, according to The Sun, May delivered a “hammer blow to scandal-hit Baroness Scotland by publicly withdrawing support for embattled Commonwealth boss”.
Despite being pressed several times by reporters, May’s official spokeswoman refused to say she had the backing of the prime minister, saying merely that May supported the role of the secretary general rather than Scotland personally.
“The PM supports the role of secretary general of the Commonwealth and the important work the office does,” she said.
Downing Street also directly refuted a claim by Scotland that she had received a “wonderful letter” from the prime minister dated October 31, expressing support for her work.
However, officials said the letter was in response to other correspondence and only indicated support for the work of the Commonwealth, not Scotland personally.
Amid the ongoing reports of alleged financial profligacy and cronyism by Scotland, Indian officials are said to be reviewing whether the country should remain in the 52-member grouping or cut its financial contributions and divert the money saved towards the UN – which has been a principal platform for recent Indian diplomatic efforts.
“Remaining in the Commonwealth is a legacy issue… But, this (reducing funds) is still a possibility if the situation persists,” sources told The Wire, an independent news website operating out of New Delhi.
Official sources told The Wire that India has been “concerned” about the recent controversies surrounding Baroness Scotland, as well as the general direction of the multilateral body in its development and political agenda.
Alarm bells went off in Indian government circles in July after a British newspaper published a series of articles accusing Scotland of hiring a new “transition team” with the help of an outside consultancy firm belonging to a “friend”.
Following her appointment in April of this year, Scotland quickly began bypassing normal procedures, against the advice of Secretariat officials, to hand out £192,000 (US$240,000) of lucrative contracts to friends.
She appointed two friends, Matthew Doyle and Joe Phelan, as her special advisers on £16,000 (US$20,000)-a-month contracts.
“Baroness Scotland is under intense pressure to explain why two former Labour flunkeys have been put on her payroll at such vast expense,” The Sun said.
And she handed her fellow Labour peer and close friend, Lord Patel of Bradford, a £30,000-a-month consultancy to be her “change manager” in a deal criticised by British MPs. Scotland reportedly bypassed the Commonwealth’s normal tendering process by hiring Patel, who the baroness apparently calls her “partner in crime”, as a consultant without putting the job out to other bidders.
Although she cited his company’s “proven track record”, it faced being struck off by the Companies Registrar three years ago because it appeared to be inactive.
It is unclear how many full-time staff, if any, his company employs. It does not advertise and has no website or telephone number, and its address is Patel’s home. The peer and his wife Yasmin are the firm’s only directors.
Conservative MP Stuart Andrew said: “My feeling is that if you are going to award a Commonwealth contract, it should not go to someone who is a good friend.”
And Sir Henry Bellingham, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Commonwealth, said it was “essential that proper tendering procedures are followed”.
He added: “There is a conflict of interest in this instance and the contract should be cancelled and put out to tender. Parliament would expect nothing less.”
Scotland also hired one of Patel’s friends, former BBC journalist Barnie Choudhury, as the Commonwealth’s director of communications – even though someone else was doing the same job.
A source told The Mail on Sunday: “There were secret meetings to decide how to explain it away to the media.”
Another issue is the appointment of former Barbadian diplomat Lolita Applewhaite as head of Scotland’s private office at the Secretariat.
As previously reported, Applewhaite was heavily involved in Scotland’s campaign for the position of secretary general, including accompanying Scotland on visits to other Caribbean countries.
However, Applewhaite has exceeded the age at which she should be employed at the Secretariat since, other than the secretary general, everyone must be under 60 years of age.
Notwithstanding its professed commitment to transparency, the Secretariat has failed to respond substantively to requests for comment on this and other matters.
In a letter to the then 53 Commonwealth high commissioners, Scotland claimed that the transition team was to help reduce her learning curve and allow her to “hit the ground running”. She also countered reports about her lavish expenditure on the official residence in London’s Mayfair.
While a refurbishment budget of £250,000 (US$313,000) was agreed in January before Scotland took over, the costs have since ballooned to an acknowledged £330,000 (US$413,000) and possibly as much as £450,000 (US$563,000) according to media reports – an increase of anywhere between 32 and 80 percent.
Scotland admitted that it was “true that proposals were made for various upgrades after my assumption of duty, in light of the official use I propose to put the residence to rather than it just being a family residence”.
However, her explanation appears to have cut no ice with New Delhi, as reflected in the Indian government’s continuing uneasiness about her role.
“We are the fourth largest financial contributor to the Commonwealth. We have concerns in how [the budget] is being spent,” sources told The Wire.
“She was already under a cloud when she came in, so after that, when the reports about renovations are published, these compound our worries about her effectiveness,” Indian officials said.
According to The Mail on Sunday, criticism of Baroness Scotland is also mounting among diplomats in other countries, along with calls from British MPs for a parliamentary probe of her use of public funds.
One of her Scotland’s predecessors, Sir Don McKinnon, secretary-general from 2000 to 2008, said on Saturday: “I see these things, and I’m worried for the sake of the Commonwealth.”
Referring to one of the Commonwealth’s smallest member states, he added: “It’s very hard to stand up in front of the prime minister of Tuvalu and say we’ve just blown your cheque on one small item.”
Scotland won the post of secretary-general with fewer than 50 percent of the votes at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM) in Malta a year ago, becoming the first secretary-general ever to be elected on a minority vote.
A senior Commonwealth official has described the selection process as a “song and dance routine where there is a straw poll and all the leaders are told, ‘Well, this appears to be the candidate who has the greatest support,’ and then everybody joins in a consensus around the person with the greatest number of straws.”
On the final round of voting, of the 53 member states, Scotland received 25 votes, with former deputy secretary-general, Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba of Botswana, securing 24 and 2 votes spoiled.
Scotland has nevertheless claimed she was elected unanimously.
“Contrary to the impression being built later, there were a lot of countries who were against her,” Indian sources asserted.
While Scotland was nominated for the post by her country of birth, Dominica, on the basis that it was ‘the Caribbean’s turn’ to fill the post, she was effectively considered a British candidate, and open lobbying by Australia, Britain and Canada (ABC) was reportedly hard for other member countries to resist.
There is now an increasing conviction in New Delhi that Scotland will pursue the ‘ABC’ agenda.
“We are anticipating that she will push their socio-economic agenda,” sources told The Wire.
With the recent departure of the Maldives from the Commonwealth, 30 small states remain part of the group. These countries are the main beneficiaries of development projects like the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC) and the trade financing fund.
Indian officials say that the main utility of the Commonwealth for New Delhi has been to maintain an interface with small island states.
“We don’t have many missions in most of those places, so the Commonwealth is a good platform for engagement,” an official said.
India is one of the principal sponsors of the Small States Office in New York and Geneva, which is a shared space for a dozen permanent missions of the smaller Commonwealth members.
Due to the economic crisis in the last few years, there has been an incremental reduction by several countries in their financial contributions to the Commonwealth. According to the Commonwealth Secretariat Revised Strategic Plan issued in December 2015, there has been a drop of £11 million (US$13.8 million) a year in funding.
India contributes over £1 million (US$1.25 million) to the CFTC, with additional funds for the secretariat, Commonwealth foundations, offices in New York and Geneva, and the youth program. Recently, India also pledged to make up to $100 million of incremental trade finance available over a period of three years to the Commonwealth Small States Trade Finance Facility.
About two months ago, a proposal was floated for revising the financial contributions from member states. India had “reservations” about this proposal. A Commonwealth spokesperson, however, denied that there was any such suggestion.
“The Commonwealth secretariat is already under financial strain and has a limited budget. If instead of going to small island states, the money is being spent elsewhere, then we have a reason to be worried,” Indian sources added.