New Court's Old Boy
NORMAN LAMONT never made much of a dent in his cushion at New Court. Still, he was N. M. Rothschild's first Chancellor or second, if you stretch a point and count Disraeli — and old connections tell. They have gained him what ex-ministers need most, which is a base, and a telephone, and the occasional use of a car. Money, too, would be nice, but the bank has a salary structure to think about, and something into five figures would, I imagine, be top whack. For that he can be wheeled out to impress impressionable visitors, chat up finance ministers and central bankers (though not Theo Weigel or Helmut Schlesinger) and lend the touch of political gossip that adds spice to a merchant banker's lunch-table. That must be as far as it goes. His is not an appointment that could be designed to curry favour with the present Government — or not except on the far-fetched assumption that it will keep the new director busy and therefore quiet. Its point is simple: we are reminded that the house of Rothschild looks after its own.
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