Tugendhat Does the Triple Lock Hop: Burnham's Sainsbury's Fleece, a Fuse CEO's Blank Answers and a Fake Downing Street Listing
Key Takeaways
- •Kemi Badenosh reshuffled her shadow cabinet after previously pledging to keep it unchanged until the election, sacking Mel Stride and Priti Patel and promoting Katie Lam and Tom Tugendhat.
- •Tom Tugendhat, a critic of the triple lock pension which he once called a 'Ponzi scheme', has joined the shadow cabinet, though Badenoch's spokesman says he backs the party's policy platform.
- •Prime Minister Andy Burnham insisted on wearing a burgundy Sainsbury's fleece and 'Andy' name badge during a supermarket visit in Nine Elms, but was not allowed to keep it.
- •Fuse CEO Alan Chang, a former Revolut executive, was described by a Sunday Times journalist as the worst 'life of' interviewee, and the $5bn startup has no internal PR team.
- •Consumer group Which? created a fake Booking.com listing for a Downing Street flat at £55 a night, which remained live for six weeks before the platform's AI systems removed it.
From Andy Burnham's supermarket wardrobe choice to a terse energy-startup boss and a reshuffle that puts a triple lock critic in the shadow cabinet, The Capitalist rounds up the latest business and political gossip.
The Triple Lock Hop
When Kemi Badenoch became leader of the opposition, she said her shadow cabinet would remain unchanged until the election. But with Burnham's rise to Number 10, she has opted for a reshuffle. Mel Stride and Priti Patel – both namechecked in Robert Jenrick's speech explaining why he left the Tories for Reform – were sacked. In the changing of the guard, Katie Lam and Tom Tugendhat were promoted, the pair having been vocal enough on the Tory backbenches to catch their leader's attention.
Lam, now the shadow housing secretary, previously came under fire for going off-message on immigration last year. Tugendhat, meanwhile, has been a staunch critic of the triple lock pension, a policy backed by Badenoch. The mechanism, in place since 2010, guarantees the state pension rises each April by the highest of inflation, average wage growth or 2.5 per cent, and successive governments of both parties have committed to it despite recurring debate over its long-term cost to the public purse. At the party's conference last year he called it a "Ponzi scheme" and attacked fellow Tories for defending what he described as the "unsustainable" way the state pension can rise above workers' wages. Badenoch's spokesman told The Capitalist that Tugendhat was fully subscribed to the Conservatives' policy platform, while a source close to Tugendhat insisted he never actually called for the triple lock pension to be scrapped. Hmmmmm…
Where Burnham Buys His Best Clothes
Andy Burnham's sartorial choices have attracted many column inches. Although the Prime Minister has put his trainer-clad foot down and refused to wear a suit for any event outside the Commons, he jumped at the chance to don a burgundy Sainsbury's fleece last week. During a visit to a supermarket in Nine Elms, London, it was the Prime Minister – not the supermarket – who insisted on wearing the garments usually reserved for store-front staff, complete with a name badge bearing a rather modest 'Andy'. Sainsbury's communications staff, surprised by the request, eventually allowed Burnham to wear his prized fleece for the cameras, though they did not let him take it home.
Fuse CEO Short Circuits
Getting CEOs to exhibit character can often be akin to squeezing blood out of a stone (see the number of citations for Atomic Habits as a favourite book in our Square Mile and Me column). But The Sunday Times appears to have found a new low, with former City AM journalist William Turvill crowning ex-Revolut executive Alan Chang – now CEO of buzzy energy startup Fuse – the "worst 'life of' interviewee he's ever had". Fuse is one of several venture-backed challengers attempting to undercut incumbents on household energy bills, a sector where consumer trust and public profile have long been shaped by founders' personalities. Favourite film? "I don't watch films." Book? "I don't read books." Charity? "I don't believe in charities."
The Capitalist attempted to contact Chang to see how he felt about such an appraisal, but discovered that the $5bn startup does not yet have an internal PR team – which may explain a lot.
Downing St-aycation
With Andy Burnham spending half his time up North, renting out his Downing Street pad could be a welcome way to help with the running costs. Tourists browsing Booking.com may have spotted the "1 bedroom apartment in the heart of London" – complete with No. 10's iconic black door – advertised at the reasonable rate of £55 a night. Was this Keir Starmer's parting prank? In fact, it was the work of consumer champions Which?, which set up the fake listing to demonstrate how easy it is for people to be scammed. Fake accommodation listings have become a persistent problem on online travel platforms, with fraudsters luring bookings off-platform before disappearing with payments. Booking.com hosted the property for six weeks before its "sophisticated AI" kicked in and removed it.
