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As much as I don't trust the current and recent crop of senior UK government politicians, this is a editorialised title. The company, Infosys is his father in

As much as I don't trust the current and recent crop of senior UK government politicians, this is a editorialised title. The company, Infosys is his father in laws (his wife does have shares), and as far as I can see there is no link between this IT contract and North Sea oil rights. But maybe I'm wrong and it a simple bribe, but I doubt it. Fundamentally though, a billionaire should not be a political leader, too much opportunity of corruption or the appearance of it.

r_thambapillai 3y ago
Its super unlikely to be a direct bribe, I think that much is fair to say. But I think viewed differently, the article is saying: Sunak's family has a tremendous interest in BP and Shell needing consulting services. Might this have an indirect effect on Sunak's willingness to legislate in ways that are highly likely to increase the amount of consulting services BP and Shell need? Its not bribery, by any means, but I think its definitely noteworthy that these pressures / considerations may be involved
- slantedview 3y ago
  Bribery doesn't need to be direct for it to be bribery. And in this case no bribes are even needed since Sunak can benefit from his own decision.
OhMeadhbh 3y ago
Heck. I had to pass on a couple deals because I have family members in California government. Guess that's not a problem if you're a Trump or a Sunak.
oxfordmale 3y ago
This is how business gets done in the UK. There is nothing legally wrong about this. However, it is clear that Rishi has a personal pro oil interest. This may well align with his political ideology, but it does give the appearance of a conflict of interest.
schnable 3y ago
Is a billionaire really more likely to be corrupt? The marginal value of money is much lower for them. It's much more interesting when people of modest wealth enter politics and become wealthy while in office, or shortly after leaving.
- mrguyorama 3y ago
  Yes. The reality is that becoming a billionaire usually involves some pretty heinous shit conducted against your fellow man for personal benefit. This is a huge self selection for basically people who have no empathy.
- richbell 3y ago
  > The marginal value of money is much lower for them. Another way to look at it is that they're _more likely_ to be corrupt because they have an insatiable appetite to amass as much money as possible. They're "wired differently" from the average person. Anyone who is a billionaire has enough money that they could cease working and live in extravagant wealth the rest of their life.
tomp 3y ago
> Fundamentally though, a billionaire should not be a political leader, too much opportunity of corruption or the appearance of it. Quite the contrary, the richer a person is, the harder they are to corrupt (both in theory - need more money to sway them - as in practice - much cheaper to corrupt someone else), and the less they care about being corrupted (they can afford to follow their principles, e.g. Musk buying Twitter even though it doesn’t make financial sense, or Gates giving his wealth away).
- decodebytes 3y ago
  > the richer a person is, the harder they are to corrupt That is quite a lot view of non-rich citizens. A lot have morals as baseline for corruption, beyond the cash / assets we hold.
  - tomp 3y ago
    I view rich and non-rich people equally. Many are moral, many others are corruptible. Among the latter, it’s harder (more expensive) to corrupt a non-rich person
- Arrath 3y ago
  > the richer a person is, the harder they are to corrupt ... and the less they care about being corrupted Perhaps by outside forces, but what about corrupt practices that furthers their own private interests in exclusion of the e.g. country they're leading?
- jareklupinski 3y ago
  > the richer a person is, the harder they are to corrupt to a certain point obviously if the only thing a person cares about is "more money" (which, in a billionaire's case, is self-evident), you can assume they'll do _anything_ for _even a little bit_ of money see: extremely wealthy people never tipping
- hobs 3y ago
  Every action Musk has taken post twitter has been to economically support it, he tried his damndest to get out of buying it after making a ridiculous offer, and is selling Tesla stock to do it.
rayiner 3y ago
Isn’t it better for billionaires to be political leaders than career bureaucrats, academics, or bartenders?
- tptacek 3y ago
  No.

r_thambapillai 3y ago

Its super unlikely to be a direct bribe, I think that much is fair to say. But I think viewed differently, the article is saying: Sunak's family has a tremendous interest in BP and Shell needing consulting services. Might this have an indirect effect on Sunak's willingness to legislate in ways that are highly likely to increase the amount of consulting services BP and Shell need? Its not bribery, by any means, but I think its definitely noteworthy that these pressures / considerations may be involved

slantedview 3y ago
Bribery doesn't need to be direct for it to be bribery. And in this case no bribes are even needed since Sunak can benefit from his own decision.

OhMeadhbh 3y ago

Heck. I had to pass on a couple deals because I have family members in California government. Guess that's not a problem if you're a Trump or a Sunak.

oxfordmale 3y ago

This is how business gets done in the UK. There is nothing legally wrong about this. However, it is clear that Rishi has a personal pro oil interest. This may well align with his political ideology, but it does give the appearance of a conflict of interest.

schnable 3y ago

Is a billionaire really more likely to be corrupt? The marginal value of money is much lower for them. It's much more interesting when people of modest wealth enter politics and become wealthy while in office, or shortly after leaving.

mrguyorama 3y ago
Yes. The reality is that becoming a billionaire usually involves some pretty heinous shit conducted against your fellow man for personal benefit. This is a huge self selection for basically people who have no empathy.
richbell 3y ago
> The marginal value of money is much lower for them. Another way to look at it is that they're _more likely_ to be corrupt because they have an insatiable appetite to amass as much money as possible. They're "wired differently" from the average person. Anyone who is a billionaire has enough money that they could cease working and live in extravagant wealth the rest of their life.

tomp 3y ago

> Fundamentally though, a billionaire should not be a political leader, too much opportunity of corruption or the appearance of it. Quite the contrary, the richer a person is, the harder they are to corrupt (both in theory - need more money to sway them - as in practice - much cheaper to corrupt someone else), and the less they care about being corrupted (they can afford to follow their principles, e.g. Musk buying Twitter even though it doesn’t make financial sense, or Gates giving his wealth away).

decodebytes 3y ago
> the richer a person is, the harder they are to corrupt That is quite a lot view of non-rich citizens. A lot have morals as baseline for corruption, beyond the cash / assets we hold.
- tomp 3y ago
  I view rich and non-rich people equally. Many are moral, many others are corruptible. Among the latter, it’s harder (more expensive) to corrupt a non-rich person
Arrath 3y ago
> the richer a person is, the harder they are to corrupt ... and the less they care about being corrupted Perhaps by outside forces, but what about corrupt practices that furthers their own private interests in exclusion of the e.g. country they're leading?
jareklupinski 3y ago
> the richer a person is, the harder they are to corrupt to a certain point obviously if the only thing a person cares about is "more money" (which, in a billionaire's case, is self-evident), you can assume they'll do _anything_ for _even a little bit_ of money see: extremely wealthy people never tipping
hobs 3y ago
Every action Musk has taken post twitter has been to economically support it, he tried his damndest to get out of buying it after making a ridiculous offer, and is selling Tesla stock to do it.

rayiner 3y ago

Isn’t it better for billionaires to be political leaders than career bureaucrats, academics, or bartenders?

tptacek 3y ago
No.