Football club paying David Miliband more than their top French striker
DAVID Miliband is raking in the equivalent of £42,000 a week from troubled Premier League club Sunderland, more than their £ 40,000- a- week striker Louis Saha.
The former foreign secretary has earned £125,000 for 15 days’ work since becoming a director of the football club in February 2011.
That’s the equivalent of nearly £ 42,000 a week, or more than £2.1 million a year.
This pro-rata figure is higher than defender Titus Bramble’s £30,000a-week deal and even surpasses that of France international Saha.
In total, the South Shields Labour MP has registered nearly £1 million of outside earnings since the 2010 Labour election. After losing the Labour leadership to his younger
‘Sunderland should red card him’
brother Ed, Mr Miliband went on to make £985,315 from the public speaking circuit and his work as an adviser.
The figure, drawn from the register of MPs’ interests, includes hospitality, travel and gifts.
But critics have questioned Mr Miliband’s focus since losing the leadership contest. They say he has become a ghost-like figure at Westminster, attending fewer than half the votes in the Commons chamber and speaking in just 11 debates in one year.
Mr Miliband has found time to attend international summits and embark on speaking engagements.
He has made nearly £65,000 from the United Arab Emirates ministry of foreign affairs, and nearly £83,000 from the London Speaker Bureau.
Energy Investment firm VantagePoint Capital Partners has paid Mr Miliband close to £117,000 for consultancy work.
The money is on top of his MPs’ salary of £65,000. Mr Miliband’s earnings dwarf those of his constituents, who averaged just £19,281 last year. Sunderland FC appointed Mr Miliband last February, despite the senior MP being a life-long supporter of Arsenal.
The club, which made a £6.2 million loss last year, is at risk of relegation after poor performances.
Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps questioned whether Mr Miliband provided value for money.
He said: ‘With a fee like that you’d expect to see David Miliband on the pitch! Per appearance, he’s on a par with players like Saha. Sunderland should red card this behaviour.’
A spokesman for Mr Miliband said: ‘Outside earnings are submitted to the register of members’ interests which is rightly available to the public to view.’