Angela Knight: Face of Britain's bankers during financial crisis to advise Government on tax

The former Conservative Treasury minister who became the face of Britain’s under-siege bankers during the financial crisis, has been given a new role advising the government on tax.

Angela Knight, a leading banking and energy sector lobbyist, will switch her allegiance back to the government after being appointed chair of the Office of Tax Simplification.

The OTS’s objective is to reduce tax compliance burdens on businesses and individuals, and to offer independent tax advice to the Treasury.

The controversial appointment will be seen as an extreme example of the revolving-door practices between the government and the private sector.

Ms Knight was Economic Secretary to the Treasury under Ken Clarke before acting as a banking lobbyist and later working for the trade association representing Britain’s energy industry.

Seema Malhotra, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, questioned the appointment, saying : “It raises serious concerns about conflicts of interest when it comes to banks, tax avoidance and the big six energy companies.”

She called on the Chancellor to set out whether there had been independent scrutiny in the appointment, and whether civil servants had raised concerns about both her recruitment and contract.

In George Osborne’s post-election summer budget, the OTS was given a permanent and expanded role.

Another Shadow Treasury minister, Richard Burgon, said Ms Knight had made a career out of “defending the indefensible, be it bankers paid eye-watering bonuses, or energy companies charging scandalous prices.”

Downing Street said the appointment had gone through “all the correct procedures”.

Given Ms Knight’s former job as chief executive of the British Bankers Association, her new role will be seen as a key part of the Chancellor’s promise to rehabilitate the government’s relationship with bankers.

A recent speech by Mr Osborne said he wanted a new “settlement” with the UK banking sector.

The Financial Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, welcomed her appointment, saying her talent and experience “made her the ideal person to help us meet our commitment to make taxes simpler for taxpayers.”

Ms Knight said she was looking forward to the challenge of “helping the government move closer to a tax system that is simpler to understand and easier to use. “