Angela Rayner defends Keir Starmer’s £100,000 in additional private earnings (telegraph.co.uk)
If this is true, how can we forgive a Lawyer/Barrister for, not only throwing dirt at the Tories, but also, behaving this way himself?
Apologies If I posted this before our Paper Lad, who, normally, posts all such indiscretions for us.
Finger on the “Flag” Button" ?
Over five years .
Not on quite the scale of Rumpole of the Caymans
A little more , for those who can’t get the whole article:-
" Angela Rayner has defended Sir Keir Starmer’s private earnings despite promising a ban on second jobs for MPs.
The deputy Labour leader defended Sir Keir’s use of his Commons office for Zoom calls after he was accused of breaking the same parliamentary sleaze rules which have been at the centre of allegations made against Sir Geoffrey Cox.
The former Attorney General came under fire over his vast second job earnings. The working barrister is facing criticism for earning more than £1 million last year for work outside of Parliament. Downing Street appeared to reprimand the Tory MP after that report surfaced, with a spokesman saying “MPs’ primary job is and must be to serve their constituents”.
The accurate figure for Kiers earnings look to be £25,934.18 in the last 12 months for 106 hours work, that figure was given in the Express on the 9th of November.
As for earnings as a Barrister, a Tory discussing MP’s work yesterday pointed out that some jobs, such as a Doctors, needs the MP to continue working to maintain their professional qualification / registration. Is this the case with Barristers? I looked on the Bar Standards Board website, but it is not clear if a Barrister looses their registration if they stop working. Being an MP should not lose someone the qualification they need to do, to earn a living outside Parliament.
I think this may be being picked up on as a bit of “whataboutery” to smokescreen what happened with Owen Paterson and how Johnson wanted to change the laws of our country to protect him
Second jobs are not illegal at the moment but I think they probably should be.
Promising to make them so while having one yourself is probably a bit hypocritical but not against the rules.
If those rules change a lot of MPs and not just Starmer will have to think again.
But lobbying is against the rules and is corruption. Having a second job isn’t necessarily corruption.
And far more hypocritical to try to change the rules to cover up corruption than it is to have a second job while saying it shouldn’t be allowed.
One is a deliberate attempt to cover up self-serving rule breaking, the other proposing a change to something they are happily doing them self at the moment
I think some of the Tories are digging up transgressions to try to cover up what Paterson and Johnson did.
And it doesn’t work.
Just because someone else may have been hypocritical or even broke rules, it doesn’t make it OK for Paterson and Johnson to do it, or make what they did any less offensive
I don’t think that anyone will argue that second jobs should all be illegal, as long as those jobs do not involve any kind of financial inducement to influence the thinking of the Government.
Also, as long as the MP being lobbed does not reduce his/her promised (at election time) dedication to serving to public.
Hopefully, what might come out of this shambolic system is a cross party rebuild of the rules.
All of this publicity has given them a little need for some consideration for the Voter.
Can there be anything much of more importance, priority, than sorting this shambles out?
Where’s the sleaze … 
I am unable to read the Tory rags to see what the accusations are … 
Yes, I think you’re right. It will take a bit more thinking about than just banning second jobs completely
Things like how much time are they spending on it and does it mean they don’t have time to spend on their MP duties and neglect them.
And does their second job mean they might have a conflict of interests when voting on some issues.
It definitely needs sorting but I still think pointing out that Starmer has second jobs is being used by some to try to muddy the waters over what happened with Paterson
The argument “they’re all at it, all corrupt, there’s nothing to be done about it” doesn’t wash with me.
If that’s the case, then the rules, how they are caught and the penalties all need tightening up
If none of them can live on MP’S pay WITHOUT side-lines so to speak how do they expect people to live on benefits such as Carers allowance basic pensions exactly?
Are MPs allowed second jobs?
Yes, as long as they are not a minister.
More than 200 MPs have received earnings in the last year on top of their £81,932 annual salary. The extra earnings range from £50 a year to almost £1m.
MPs must publicly declare any additional income, along with gifts, donations and shareholdings over 15%.
Those who leave government must consult the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments about any jobs they want to take up in the two years after leaving their post. They are banned from lobbying the government for two years.
All MPs are “strictly forbidden” from getting paid “in return for advocating a particular matter” in Parliament.
Having MPs with second professions has previously been seen as a good thing.
In 1995, the standards committee said that not having them would “not serve the best interests of democracy”. It argued that Parliament needed “a wide range of current experience which can contribute to its expertise”.
The current debate is mainly regarding MPs who earn money as consultants or advisers. Less controversial second jobs range from doctors and nurses, to referees and musicians.
Which MPs have worked as consultants in the last year?
The following MPs have registered income from consultancy work on the Register of Members’ Financial Interests in the last year. There is no suggestion that any of the MPs listed below have broken any rules.
Andrew Mitchell (Conservative) holds six consultancy jobs, supporting investment banks and accountancy firms. He has registered more than £180,000 for 34.5 days’ work
Julian Smith (Conservative) is earning £144,000 for 62-84 hours’ work for three companies, including advising on energy and renewable fuels
Former transport and justice secretary Chris Grayling (Conservative) earns £100,000 to advise Hutchison Ports
Mark Garnier (Conservative) is paid to sit on the advisory boards of two companies in the space and satellite industry, committing 20 hours a month for an annual payment of £90,000
Sir Ed Davey (Lib Dem) works as a consultant for two firms alongside his job as leader of the Liberal Democrats. He says his extra £78,000 income goes towards supporting his disabled son
Alun Cairns (Conservative), who left his post as Welsh Secretary in 2019, earns £60,000 advising three companies
Ruth Edwards (Conservative), who has represented Rushcliffe since 2019, commits to 192 hours for £60,000 per year, advising a software company
Stephen Hammond (Conservative) advises an investment company on political issues for £60,000 a year
Since leaving his role as health minister in 2019, Steve Brine (Conservative) has joined three firms, including Sigma Pharmaceuticals. He earns almost £60,000 for 288 hours**
David Davis (Conservative) earns just over £50,000 as an adviser to two German companies
John Hayes (Conservative) offers up to 90 hours of his time annually to international energy company BB Energy Trading, earning £50,000
Former party leader and cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative) advises two health companies for £45,000
Damian Green (Conservative) advises transport company Abellio on rail policy for 288 hours and £40,000 annually
Tim Loughton (Conservative) receives £37,000 for advising a children’s services provider
Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative) provides “general advice” to an American mining firm, earning £36,000 a year
Andrew Percy (Conservative) receives £36,000 a year for advising a Canadian clean energy company for six hours a month
Khalid Mahmood (Labour) has committed up to 15 hours a month advising the Policy Exchange think tank on issues including extremism. He receives a salary of £25,000 a year
Laurence Robertson (Conservative) advises the Betting and Gaming Council for £24,000 a year. He is expected to commit 10 hours a month
Richard Fuller’s (Conservative) outside earnings include £20,000 as an advisory director of an investment company
Chair of the House of Commons justice committee Sir Bob Neill (Conservative) has been receiving almost £20,000 for two consultancy roles, including a law firm. One of the roles ended earlier this year
Royston Smith (Conservative) has received £18,000 since May 2020 for 30 hours’ work as a consultant for a property company
Until earlier this year, Mark Pritchard (Conservative) was earning £18,000 a year for advice by the Consumer Credit Association
Sir Greg Knight (Conservative) advises a bank for £16,000 a year on “general business and public relations”
Until earlier this year, Ben Everitt (Conservative) committed 60 to 80 hours a year to advising the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales for £15,000
Andrew Bridgen (Conservative) offers political advice for £12,000 a year, to a company which grows teak in Ghana
Philip Davies (Conservative) earns £12,000 annually as a parliamentary adviser to the National Pawnbroking Association
Sir Graham Brady (Conservative) earns £10,000 a year for 12 hours’ work as a strategic adviser
Former universities minister Chris Skidmore (Conservative) provides advice on higher education for £10,000 a year
Paul Maynard (Conservative) earns £6,250 a year as a consultant to a banking services company. He says his earnings go straight to charity
John Redwood (Conservative) is an adviser for a private equity fund, for which he earns £5,000
Until earlier this year, Andrew Lewer (Conservative) provided public policy advice to a property firm for £4,800 per year
Dean Russell (Conservative) has received just over £2,000 in 2021 as a consultant for a business training companyWhat about other jobs?
Most of the MPs who have second jobs are not consultants.
Some of the highest earners in the House of Commons are lawyers.
Sir Geoffrey Cox, who was attorney general during the height of the Brexit negotiations, has registered almost £900,000 in the last year for around 1,000 hours of legal work.
The Conservative MP has denied breaching the rules.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who is also a barrister, has made more than £100,000 for legal work, writing and making speeches since becoming an MP in 2015. There is no suggestion he has done anything against the rules, and Sir Keir says all the work was carried out before he became leader last year.
A number of MPs are also employed as doctors and nurses. Some have continued to work on the NHS front line during the pandemic.
I sense a tendency … 
I wonder if many of us ever think through what MP candidates might need to do, when election time comes around and they (some of them) turn up on our doorsteps.
In this area we voted in a Doctor to be an MP .
Then the ex Doctor quit, after the Brexit vote, saying he couldn’t, in all conscience, support a Brexit majority.
As I understand it, he is no longer either a Doctor, nor an MP.
That was a double whammy we, the Voters, could have seen coming.
But we didn’t look very hard!
There’s no surprise anywhere here … anything to do with MP’s of any ilk and there will be shenanigans.
Where’s the sleaze … 
I am unable to read the Tory rags to see what the accusations are … 
