Thread: Transcript of conversation with Lord Taylor

Seems the old boy is in a heap of it. Hardly proper is it?

This is an edited version of the alleged transcript released by The Sunday Times:

Lord Taylor: "I don't know if you know a company called Experian in this country?"

The Sunday Times: "No".

Lord Taylor: "Experian are the company. They have a terrific amount of intelligence and information. They are the people who advise banks on your credit worthiness and so on. For example I've been working with them on amending a statute that's coming out, or was coming out, because I've got it delayed now, whereby it was going to be difficult for them to get certain information and so on. So I've got that amended and you do it quietly behind the scenes you see."

The Sunday Times: "How did you manage to do that? Do you actually put in an amendment yourself?"

Lord Taylor: "No no no no no. You don't do things like that. That's stupid. What you do is you talk to the parliamentary team who drafts the statutes it goes through and you point out to them the difficulty the retailer would be having on this, and hope things are working and so on.
"But if you can get it done when its in the draft form it's far better... what you do is you meet the minister you meet the various people, and its not always ministers or secretary of state or even permanent secretaries that do this.
"It's some little chappie half way down…It's about identifying the decision makers. It's about identifying the people that make the recommendations."

The Sunday Times: "Obviously, from our point of view, this would be something we would remunerate you for. And I don't think money is an object. But [what] I would ask you to do would be to give us some idea of what a fee structure would be."

Lord Taylor: "This is absolutely difficult, this is very difficult for me because some companies that I work with will pay me £100,000 a year."

The Sunday Times: "£100,000?"

Lord Taylor: "Oh yes. That's cheap for what I do for them. And other companies will pay me £25,000. It all depends on what you are trying to do and how much time I think I am going to spend on it."

The Sunday Times: "Those fees are not impossible. They are all fine."

Lord Taylor: "Yes but these are the sort of fees I get. I am being absolutely honest with you. I am not exaggerating. It's whether I want to do it or not. You've got to whet my appetite, to get me on board."

Edited transcript of a second meeting some weeks later:

Lord Taylor: "I am very aware of the credibility I have achieved over 50 years of working here with government and departments.
"I am not going to put myself in an embarrassing situation or do anything that I think is illegal or using my position. I will work within the rules, but also rules are meant to be bent sometimes."



Lords fiasco: Transcript of conversation with Lord Taylor - Telegraph