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Osborne’s father-in-law was paid £24k for “unsalaried” ministerial role

July 15, 2012 10:51 am

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According to the Mail on Sunday:

“A Tory Minister is returning £24,000 to the taxpayer after being mistakenly paid for a Government job he was supposed to be doing for free. In an extraordinary blunder, Lord Howell – who is Chancellor George Osborne’s father-in-law – was paid about £3,000 a month despite being an ‘unsalaried’ Foreign Office Minister.”

I’m sure that there’s a perfectly rational explanation for someone being paid £24,000 for an unpaid role (although personally I think it would have taken me less than 8 months to notice the money) – but this is the Chancellor’s father-in-law. Can you imagine if this had happened to Gordon Brown? It would have been on the front page of every paper.

You’d have been able to seen the indignation and outrage from space…

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  • http://profiles.google.com/lindy43lyn Lynda Davies

    This on a Sunday where no Labour person on Marr and neither Marr or Murnaghan choose to question anyone on it. 

    • treborc

       How can you be working as an unpaid  minister. very strange

      • DanFilson

        There is a limit to the number of paid ministers, so some serve without pay. The rich, usually. No surprise there, then. So much for the efficiency of publishing all spending over a certain a,out as a way of preventing mis-spending.

        • treborc

          Well most ministers are rich are they not, although a lot of ex ministers or leaders now desperate to get back into power, Purnell Blair and the likes.

  • Honest John

    I suppose the fee was so low because Osborne got a family discount.

    • treborc

       Then again we need only look at MP’s  who employ wives sons daughters, of all  parties.

  • http://twitter.com/flyhmstr Korenwolf

    Weasels to the left, weasels to the right, libdems cowering in the middle.  So, where’s the option which isn’t corrupt?

  • Daniel Speight

    Our political class still behaves like Britain is a banana republic.

    • Disco Duck

      I wish were were a banana republic instead of a banana monarchy.

      • Daniel Speight

        Now who was it that got photographed holding a big banana?

        • treborc

          I suspect it’s lucky Brown is back in Scotland because he tried to eat the lot as part of his super Diet.

          One of the Miliband’s  was seen with a banana  no the other one.

  • http://twitter.com/LouMcCudden Louise McCudden

    Is this what they mean by the “culture of entitlement” and I wonder what they will be doing to tackle it…

  • Mr Chippy

    Did he declare it on his tax returns?

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZPXYLRVP4XOIGGDJWAL6HUO7U4 David

      In fairness that may explain why he realised now, after this years’ tax return arrived, rather than 8 months ago…

  • hypermobilecat

    Lets face it,this is not a coalition government,its a conservative government,unelected,foisted on us,every so often cleggy makes noises endorsing what his new found chum dave is saying yuck ,its surreal,lets get prince charles in on the act,he cant do any worse than cammy and cleggy. three grand a month,not realised,I think if you didnt realise  that extra money each month,you must be thick or dont regard it as much dosh.

  • hypermobilecat

    Lets face it,this is not a coalition government,its a conservative government,unelected,foisted on us,every so often cleggy makes noises endorsing what his new found chum dave is saying yuck ,its surreal,lets get prince charles in on the act,he cant do any worse than cammy and cleggy. three grand a month,not realised,I think if you didnt realise  that extra money each month,you must be thick or dont regard it as much dosh.

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