Lord Palmer ‘delighted’ with business role

A Jewish peer has said he was “delighted” to be asked to play a lead role in business policy development for the Liberal Democrats.

Lord (Monroe) Palmer of Childs Hill, who was appointed the party’s Middle East advisor last year, was appointed Lords Shadow Minister for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses last week.

He said: “I was delighted to be asked. This plays to my strengths, having spent a lifetime as a chartered accountant advising exactly that sector. If we as a nation are to thrive inside or outside the EU, a lot of the growth and innovation will come from these businesses.”

Palmer is vice-president of Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel, and had his peerage bestowed in 2011, during the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government.