Conflict of Interest

‘Since university.’

‘You mean …?’

‘Lovers.’ He pulled a slow, sly smile, observing her surprise, before continuing, ‘I don’t know what the … relationship is now. But they still seem very close occasionally, if you follow me.’

She gaped at him, wide-eyed.

‘We’re keeping an eye on Mr Treiger. We feel he hasn’t been entirely above board with us.’

Kate was fighting for her composure. ‘Let me get this straight,’ she said. ‘Chris was involved with Judith Laing at university. They still get it together from time to time.’

‘Correct.’

‘So if he has nights of passion with an old flame, does that make him a security risk?’

‘Well …’

‘I’m … surprised he never mentioned her to me. But it’s his private life.’ She regarded d’Andrea closely. ‘Has he done anything at all to arouse suspicions?’

D’Andrea shook his head. ‘Not my suspicions. But’, glancing up to check his door, ‘I can’t say the same for our American colleague.’

‘That man is paranoia incarnate.’

D’Andrea fixed her with a serious expression. ‘He’s also dangerous,’ he said gravely, ‘extremely dangerous. I’d be careful of him if I were you. And Chris Treiger should be especially careful. North has him in his sights.’

‘He’s already made his feelings plain over the Project Silo report.’

D’Andrea shrugged. ‘I don’t know about that. But North is convinced that Treiger and Laing are cooking up the exposé of the century on Jacob Strauss.’

‘That’s what all this is about, isn’t it?’ Kate fought to control an urge to scream, and instead kept her voice down. ‘Jacob Strauss?’

D’Andrea snorted. ‘Well, let’s just say that things were a lot more simple when Nathan was in charge.’

That Thursday afternoon’s Starwear traffic meeting was like no other that had gone before. Mike Cullen always chaired the meetings – but this afternoon he had sent his apologies. Kate Taylor had said she was unable to attend, sending her deputy, Stewart Watkins, on her behalf. Marilyn Rhodes seemed unusually preoccupied and Bob Wang’s main worry was a major, five-year sponsorship deal he was in the middle of negotiating on Starwear’s behalf. Nicholas King was inscrutable and bespectacled, mid-table. Elliott North sat, as ever, doodling on his briefing pad.

The Agenda followed the same format it always did for these meetings, going through all the PR disciplines – Financial, Corporate, Consumer, Sponsorship, Political and Special Projects. Usually, Mike Cullen would make a deliberate point of referencing activities to the Four-Point Plan. But today, with no Mike Cullen, there was no mention of the Four-Point Plan. And there was little appetite among those present for dwelling on the Agenda, although there could be no escaping the importance of the Textiles Bill, due to be debated and voted on in the House of Commons next week. Reporting to the meeting, Nicholas King seemed almost relieved that some of his more senior colleagues weren’t there to witness his discomfort.

‘It’s not all bad news,’ he tried to sound upbeat to begin with, ‘we have a Member of Parliament prepared to sponsor an amendment that specifically excludes sportswear manufacturing from the Bill. And we have several other MPs prepared to give voice to their support of the amendment. But in the end, it’s a numbers game.’

He glanced round the table at his colleagues, all of whom seemed lost in other thoughts. ‘We’re fighting against a Bill which the Government says is a major plank of its legislative reform. The Government won’t be derailed and will resist having the Bill killed by a thousand amendments. There are a

ll kinds of special-interest groups out there wanting to climb on the bandwagon, to be excluded from the Bill in the same way that Starwear does. It’s the present view of the Minister that if you give in to one group, you have to give in to them all.’

Marilyn Rhodes did her best to suppress a yawn.

‘Of course, we’ve considered taking this outside Parliament, directly to the public, but it’s not an issue that plays well’

‘Surely,’ Stewart Watkins tried to contribute, ‘if the public can be persuaded that including sportswear manufacturers in the Bill is bad for the industry and bad for Britain …’

‘The cost of such persuasion would be huge – and would take considerably longer than a week.’ Nicholas King delivered a patrician expression over his half-moons. ‘It is also the least effective way to achieve legislative change. Besides, you’re up against those arguing for free competition. There’s a knee-jerk public reaction that open competition is good, and restrictive trading is bad. Whatever arguments you marshal, they tend to fall on deaf ears. Most MPs have a slightly more sophisticated understanding and, believe me, we’ve conducted an intensive lobbying campaign among them.’

North looked up. ‘What’s their reaction been to the “responsible management” line?’

‘Keen appreciation among the Opposition, lukewarm on Government benches. Not enough, so far, to support an amendment, let alone a full-scale revolt.’

‘Just so long as the “responsible management” story has been gotten over.’

‘They’ve all heard it till they’re climbing the walls,’ King was firm. ‘They’ve been individually wined and dined. There have been presentations to the Select Committee and a succession of letters both to MPs and the Ministry. They are all acutely aware of the points we’re making. It’s a matter of achieving consensus for our point of view.’