More defections from Tory HQ: Natalie Kirby, Cameron’s assistant head of media, is off to run the press at….. McDonald’s UK. Before Coffee Housers snigger, I’d like to point out that McDonald’s corporate debt has a lower risk rating than UK government bonds, so the markets are in no doubt about which is the dodgier institution. I’m not joking: McDonald’s has a credit default swap rating of about 70 while the UK government’s is about 100. This means that the market genuinely thinks that quarter-pounders are a safer bet than pounds.
Cameron will argue that as companies prepare for a change of government, its inevitable that Tory staff will be headhunted. But I can’t help noticing that the flow of high calibre staff does seem to be leading out of, not into, its Millbank HQ.
P.S. As TGF points out below, Guido had chapter and verse on the McDonald v UK debt rating, complete with graphs, on 9 Dec.
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