ANDREW PIERCE: Matt Hancock still hasn’t declared his jungle bundle
When Matt Hancock entered the I’m A Celebrity jungle, there was genuine shock at Westminster.
Not least among staff in his own Conservative association in West Suffolk, whom he hadn’t warned, which may explain why he’s standing down at the next election.
And it wasn’t just the decision of the former Health Secretary to go on the TV show that caused waves, but the reported £400,000 fee for a mere three weeks’ work — albeit with some humiliating Bushtucker Trials thrown in.
Only 1980s pop star Boy George was reportedly being paid more. But how do we know if that figure is right? Nearly two months after he left the jungle in creditable third place, Hancock hasn’t declared any earnings from his trip Down Under.
Yet Hancock, who continued to be paid his £84,000 MP’s salary while he was on the reality show, has declared £800 for a speaking engagement after he left the jungle. He’s also declared £400 and £500 for tickets to two separate Christmas parties with Global Radio
The MPs’ code of conduct says: ‘MPs must register within 28 days any interest which someone might reasonably consider to influence their actions or words as an MP.’
Yet Hancock, who continued to be paid his £84,000 MP’s salary while he was on the reality show, has declared £800 for a speaking engagement after he left the jungle. He’s also declared £400 and £500 for tickets to two separate Christmas parties with Global Radio.
So why has he declared those relatively trivial amounts rather than the bloated fee he earned for abandoning his constituents?
An oversight? Or is he trying to forget those disgusting Bushtucker Trials?
Boris Johnson was spotted mingling with bankers, hedge-fund tycoons, billionaires and superannuated spongers at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
In 2013, when Boris was Mayor of London, he took a different view of the annual Swiss roll call of the super rich.
‘Davos is a constellation of egos involved in massive mutual orgies of adulation.’
His biggest U-turn yet?
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was widely mocked over his clumsy attempt to explain inflation by using polystyrene cups to show a flat white coffee that cost £2.60 last year now costs nearly £3. Not for everyone though.
Hunt failed to mention that because of taxpayer subsidies, a flat white from the Despatch Box coffee shop in Parliament is a mere £1.55.
Corbyn trouble for keir
Militant RMT leader Mick Lynch addressed a rally outside Downing Street last week flanked by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his Left-wing cronies.
‘Where is Keir Starmer and the Labour frontbench?’ asked Lynch.
They were in the Commons voting against the long overdue Bill to introduce a minimum level of service during strikes by NHS and, er, rail workers. Legislation long and vehemently opposed by Lynch.
Militant RMT leader Mick Lynch addressed a rally outside Downing Street last week flanked by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his Left-wing cronies. ‘Where is Keir Starmer and the Labour frontbench?’ asked Lynch
Comrade Corbyn has lost the Labour whip, meaning he can’t stand for the party at the next general election.
He’s posted through every letterbox in his Islington North constituency a glossy leaflet extolling his own virtues. Is he gearing up to run as an Independent — splitting the Labour vote? Or will he run in the London Mayoral election against Sadiq Khan? Either way, trouble for Starmer.
Overheard in the House of Commons: ‘I blame the kilt for all the fuss in Scotland over gender issues.’
Now the PM has finally conceded using private health, the historian Sir Vernon Bogdanor says Sunak is in good company.
‘So did the founder of the NHS, Aneurin Bevan. His doctor was Sir Daniel Davies, physician to George VI. Bevan’s ally, Barbara Castle, had a private operation while Minister for Overseas Development on the perfectly reasonable grounds that she had to take her despatch boxes with her into hospital.’
Rishi’s slice of life
Comedian Frank Skinner is not convinced by Sunak’s professed preference for carrot cake and red velvet cake
Comedian Frank Skinner is not convinced by Sunak’s professed preference for carrot cake and red velvet cake. ‘Whenever a politician says anything about being human,’ he remarked, ‘it always sounds like they’re an alien in a film who’s landed and is working undercover as a human.’
Source: Read Full Article