The U.K. government has appointed former BP chief Lord Browne as its new efficiency czar.

The U.K. government has appointed former BP chief Lord Browne as its new efficiency czar. Tom Bower on the extraordinary insult of promoting the man who bears huge responsibility for the Gulf oil crisis.

The British government appointed Lord Browne, the former CEO of BP, as a new "super-director" to cut waste and increase the efficiency of the British government machine in Whitehall. The announcement of Browne's appointment was delayed while officials weighed the consequences of inevitable controversy. Browne is widely blamed for the drastic cuts of BP's safety and maintenance program of its oil installations in the U.S. while he was BP's CEO between 1998 and 2007. The consequence of those cuts were three major accidents in the U.S.—an explosion at the Texas City refinery in 2005, two oil spills in Alaska in 2006; and the current catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. Adamantly, Browne has refused to discuss his responsibility for the Gulf crisis. He is undoubtedly relieved that the British government decided to ignore the allegations about his culpability and promote him to a senior position. Ever since he was forced to abruptly retire from BP after signing an untruthful court statement about his gay relationship with a young Canadian, he has struggled to restore his reputation as the "Sun King."

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the trick is to keep breathing
the trick is to keep breathing