The Telegraph has moved on from MPs’ expenses to feature instead those who have other jobs.
Their survey has uncovered the outside interests of dozens of MPs who hold down paid positions, ranging from legal and media work to crofting, and even grave digging. One earns £750 an hour for helping to organise an awards ceremony for the drinks industry, while another is paid more than £1,300 a day to provide business advice.
John Hemming, the Liberal Democrat MP for Birmingham Yardley has pre-empted the story on his own blog. He went into Parliament as the founder and owner of a number of companies and he provides a complete breakdown of how much time he devotes to them and how much he earns in addition to his Parliamentary salary.
Mr. Hemming says that the time he spends on these outside activities amounts to about half a day a month and that he is personally responsible for the employment of hundreds of people. He also points out that in 2007/8 when he adds together his salary and the money he received from the ACA he paid the exchequer £17,550.87 more than it paid him. Not many MPs will be able to say that.
John Hemming aside the paper reveals that more than half of MPs with outside interests are Conservative. In addition, Alan Milburn, the former health secretary, who announced last night that he was standing down from parliament at the next election, is expected to be shown to be one of Labour’s highest earners. He is known to earn at least £115,000 a year from five outside employers.
Although there is greater transparency with a requirement for MPs to declare their outside interests there is no indication that this will reduce the amount of moonlighting that goes on. David Cameron in particular has an issue with his Shadow Cabinet, many of whom have refused to give up well-paid second jobs to concentrate on the task of becoming an alternative government.
Oh yes, and the gravedigger is Robert Goodwill, the Tory shadow transport minister and MP for Scarborough and Whitby, who runs a cemetery on his farm and told The Sunday Telegraph that he occasionally digs graves. He said his businesses would make a loss this year. Alas, poor Yorick….
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