Rishi Sunak is playing with fire with plans to overrule regulators

Ministers may not enjoy the consequences of playing at regulation, says James Moore

Prime minister, first lord of the Treasury and now Britain’s chief financial regulator? Rishi Sunak seems to want the job (PA)

Rishi Sunak’s plans to allow ministers to overrule “independent” watchdogs are hugely controversial. But perhaps it’s worth considering how independent those watchdogs really are when government holds the power of appointment.

True, most selections are overseen by the Public Appointments Commission (but not all). The commission is not involved when it comes to the Bank of England’s governor or its deputy governors, one of whom runs the Prudential Regulation Authority.

The question of credibility ought to prevent them from appointing an old roommate from boarding school with whom they worked at a think tank. But ministers, and prime ministers, are still quite capable of pushing for some spectacularly misjudged postings. Witness Boris Johnson’s repeated attempts to install former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre as chair of Ofcom; that job eventually went to former BBC chair Michael Grade, despite a committee of MPs warning of a “clear lack of depth” of knowledge about social media and online safety.