Osborne’s £20k payout... for getting the sack
GEORGE Osborne pocketed a payout of up to £20,000 when he was sacked as chancellor.
This was despite him then walking into lucrative jobs in the City and journalism.
He and then justice secretary Michael Gove were handed severance payments after Theresa May ousted them when she arrived in Number 10.
Mr Osborne received from £15,000 to £20,000 – despite later earning more than £1million from six other jobs.
Mr Gove was given £17,000, even though he managed to walk straight into a £150,000a- year job as a columnist for The Times newspaper and was brought back to the cabinet a year later as Environment Secretary.
The revelations were buried in accounts slipped out by ministers in recent days. Critics said that taxpayers would be shocked.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘MPs take ministerial roles knowing full well that they are not jobs for life, and can be moved on at a moment’s notice. Of course, they still have their salary as an MP too. The Government needs to be looking to bring down the cost of politics, and these payouts seem ripe for a cut.’
Labour MP Jon Trickett said: ‘ Taxpayers will be shockeds that they’re picking up the bill to pay off two cabinet ministers who did more than most to ensure working peoplep are worse off.
‘ When ordinary people’s wages are still lower than before the economic crash, it sticks in the craw to see George Osborne – who has taken up six jobs since leaving ParliamentP – and Michael Gove,G who is now back in cabinet, get rewarded to the tune of thousands of pounds of public money.
‘It’s hardly surprising the Government has tried to slip this news out quietly – they should be embarrassed by it.’
Mr Osborne provoked criti- cism after he took up a series of high-flying jobs after being booted out of government, including becoming editor of London’s Evening Standard newspaper.
He earns £650,000 a year for working one day a week as a consultant for the US investment firm BlackRock, and another estimated £120,000 for his work at the US-based McCain Institute for International Leadership.
He has also become a regular on the lucrative after-dinner speaking circuit, chairs the Northern Powerhouse Partnership and has been made honorary professor of economics at Manchester University.
After widespread criticism over his potential conflicts of interest, he stood down as Tatton MP – for which he was paid £70,000 a year – at last month’s election.
The Government last year announced a crackdown on public sector staff being paid golden goodbyes only to walk straight back in to similar, lucrative jobs.