The evidence all seems to strongly suggest that George Osborne did nothing illegal in Corfu. But that does not mean he should escape without criticism. What he did was clearly foolhardy in the extreme. If Osborne has just googled Deripaska he would have seen enough material to make him hesitate about even being in his vicinity, let alone meeting with him on his yacht.
These unforced Tory errors need to stop. What the party need is someone in Central Office powerful enough to demand to be told of anything even potentially controversial that a shadow cabinet member is planning to do and if necessary order them not to do it.
Some will deride this as treating the shadow cabinet like children. But if William Hague thinks that going to a Barclays Wealth conference after it has become a tabloid symbol of bankers’ excess is a good idea and Osborne believes that a Russian oligarch who is banned from entering the US is a reasonable person to hang out with then someone does need to take them in hand. After all, these are the two most senior members of the shadow cabinet after Cameron.
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