George Osborne has a tough time on Twitter. A really, really tough time.
Take the top comment from his debut back in March of 2013.
Ouch.
And he hasn’t had it any easier since.
And so on...
Then, on Tuesday 12 July, 2016, with possibly only hours left as Chancellor, George Gideon Oliver Osborne tweeted this...
The announcement that cash raised from fines on banks is to be given to a charity linked to the murdered MP Jo Cox.
The quite marvellous move prompted a flood of positivity rarely seen before in the replies of a major UK politician.
Leading the charge was none other that Jo Cox’s widower, Brendan.
And the praise continued.
OK, some of it wasn’t exactly straight-up compliments.
And admittedly there were still some haters but for George, this was pretty good going.
The Royal Voluntary Service (RVS), one of the largest volunteer organisations in the country, will receive £375,000 from the Libor rate fixing scandal penalties pot.
It was one of three organisations backed by a memorial fund set up in the wake of the fatal attack on the Labour MP in June.
The award is one of a number made from the £14 million set aside from banking fines that Osborne has handed out to charities in what are likely to be his remaining few hours as Chancellor.
Some £1.9 million will go on new buildings for pre-school age children of SAS personnel while £2.2 million will fund new recovery facilities for naval special forces.
Flights to the Falklands for veterans over the next three years to visit battlefields, war graves and memorials will be secured with a £550,000 grant and £2.25 million will support D-Day veteran visits to Normandy.
The Aged Veterans Fund, which tackles health, well-being and social care needs, will receive £5 million and £100,000 is being used to fund an expedition for wounded veterans climbing Antarctica’s highest mountain.
More than £2 million will be spent on excavating HMS Invincible, which sank in 1758 in the Solent near Portsmouth, in a project involving veterans, serving personnel and disadvantaged teenagers.
Osborne said: “It is right that funding from those in the banking industry who demonstrated the worst of values goes towards people who display the very best of British values.
“Jo Cox dedicated her life to bringing people together and making a difference. She was an inspiration to people across the world and I am proud to give the Royal Voluntary Service this funding in her memory to continue their vital work.”
Cox, the Labour MP for Batley and Spen, was shot and killed earlier this month.
The attack came on the steps of the town library just before 1pm, where the 41-year-old mother-of-two had been holding a surgery with her constituents.
52-year-old Tommy Mair will stand trial for her murder in November.