You are here: Home » News »

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

July 15, 2012 10:51 am

Author:

Tags:

Share this Article

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…

Related posts:

  1. Business or pleasure? Who paid for Daniel Hannan’s trip abroad to badmouth the NHS?
  2. Government axed paid internship scheme last week
  3. Ideas for electability: Flexible, paid parental leave
  4. Tom Watson to resign as Minister to take a more strategic role
  5. Tax cuts for the low paid: 8 in the morning – November 29th
  • 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.

Latest

  • News Seats and Selections Vicky Foxcroft selected as Labour’s PPC for Lewisham Deptford

    Vicky Foxcroft selected as Labour’s PPC for Lewisham Deptford

    Vicky Foxcroft has been selected by Lewisham Deptford CLP as the party’s candidate for 2015 at a selection meeting this afternoon. Here’s a brief biography: Vicky grew up in the North West in a single parent household, and was the first person in her family to go to university. She has held many positions in the party including Chair of Labour Students, has sat on the National Policy Forum and is currently a local councillor and is Chair of Lewisham [...]

    Read more →
  • Comment Labour’s future schools policy: why accountability matters

    Labour’s future schools policy: why accountability matters

    By Mike Ion

    Stephen Twigg, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary is one of the more thoughtful and pragmatic individuals to hold this vitally important brief for some time. To his credit Stephen has been out and about these past two years listening to pupils, teachers, parents and governors and finding out more about the challenges they face on a day-to-day basis. In addition Stephen has been looking closely at some local, regional, national and international programmes that have had a demonstrable impact in raising [...]

    Read more →
  • News Seats and Selections Falkirk selection process suspended by the party

    Falkirk selection process suspended by the party

    The Labour Party have this afternoon suspended the selection process for Falkirk, after concerns were raised about “membership recruitment”. We understand that Ed Miliband was “keen to act swiftly” as the selection process was due to formally begin on Sunday. An officer of the party – yet to be confirmed – will investigate. A Labour spokesperson told us this afternoon: “We have suspended the start of the selection process of the Falkirk parliamentary seat. Concerns have been raised about membership [...]

    Read more →
  • Comment Seats and Selections Unions Working Class MPs – the end of a era?

    Working Class MPs – the end of a era?

    By Paul Wheeler

    It is interesting to see that the Labour Party is returning to the vexed issue of its parliamentary selection process. The changes may be well and good.  But maybe we should be asking a bigger question – are we  witnessing the end of working class representation in Parliament? When the Labour Party was first founded it was more simple. Then the explicit  aim was to secure working class representation, and specifically organised labour, in Parliament. Inevitably it became more complicated [...]

    Read more →
  • Local Government News An absolutely classic Lib Dem bar chart

    An absolutely classic Lib Dem bar chart

    Earlier this week we brought you a decidedly dodgy bar chart from the Tories, but it seems that they’re not the only party in Camden adopting dubious use of bar charts. Step forward Camden Lib Dems, with this classic of the dodgy Lib Dem bar chart genre (courtesy of Theo Blackwell). Even by the pretty shoddy standards of the yellows, this is a corker:   Update: Haringey Lib Dems might want to work on their bar charts  maths too (via [...]

    Read more →