Two EU pensions earn Nigel £132k
NIGEL Farage is looking forward to an income in retirement from the EU estimated at £132,000 a year.
That’s £59,000 more than the widely reported £73,000 he will pocket when he reaches the age of 63 in 10 years.
The reason is the former Ukip leader has not just one EU pension, but two.
And the British taxpayer will be helping to fund both of them as part of our Brexit divorce settlement.
Mr Farage was asked on Andrew Marr’s BBC show last Sunday whether he would take the entitlement. He said: “Of course I would.” He was accused of being a “shameless hypocrite” by the Lib Dems’ Brexit spokesman Tom Brake MP.
Mr Brake said: “He rails against the so-called EU gravy train but he’s happy to cash in when it suits him.”
Mr Farage signed up to the subsidised European Parliament’s Additional Voluntary Pension Scheme.
Now at least £187million in the red, it was closed to new entrants in 2009. An MEP’s monthly contribution was £982, topped up by £1,965 of public money. The additional payments are on top of the main MEP pension scheme that is wholly funded by taxpayers.
Mr Farage will have served four terms as a Euro MP when he is forced into retirement in 2019 by Brexit.
He told Brexit Countdown: “Given the arbitrary nature of the EU I’ll be lucky if I get it. There are 22,000 UK citizens entitled to EU pensions so why are you only asking me?”
Because, Nige, you’re the most famous.