... and how she shamelessly joked her salary is a pittance £160,000

BY THE standards of most people, £160,000 is a huge salary.

For one thing it is nearly £20,000 more than what Prime Minister Theresa May receives for running the country.

But addressing her staff soon after arriving at the Commonwealth Secretariat in April, Baroness (Patricia) Scotland tried to joke that the six-figure sum she receives as Secretary-General was meaningless.

‘If I wanted money, this is not it. Trust me, this is not it,’ she told them in an address captured on video. ‘Others looked at how much I earn, and they said, “Patricia, is this a day?”’

Her comments caused outrage among her staff, especially now the organisation is facing redundancies under the orders of Scotland and Lord Patel.

One staff member told The Mail on Sunday: ‘We’re in utter shock at how detached she is from the reality of the Commonwealth and by the crassness of telling some of the most devoted staff, some of whom are on low salaries but love their jobs, that £160,000 is nothing to her.’

Elsewhere in the address, she mentioned turning down a wellpaid job at a ‘very, very large bank’ to take up the role only junior to the Queen in terms of Commonwealth hierarchy.

She also denied taking the position for the title, adding: ‘I’ve got so many titles, I’m tired of them. I don’t need a title.’

The speech, delivered at the Secretariat’s palatial HQ overlooking St James’s Palace, was recorded officially and circulated among the organisation’s employees.

When one staff member in the audience joked that maybe the media would see her speech to staff, Scotland grimaced.

Much of the address focused on her history and name-dropping contacts such as Hillary Clinton and Bill Gates.

As well as the grace-and-favour house, her job comes with an on-call chauffeur-driven BMW which she boasted about in the speech, joking: ‘Gary my driver will be driving me but he is going to be driving all of you.’

Teetotal Scotland also showed that money isn’t the only compensation Lord Patel receives from the Commonwealth.

The Secretary-General passes on all alcoholic gifts she receives in her role to Patel, who she designates as her chief taster.

For an organisation facing a 19 per cent reduction in funding, a large amount of the address was dedicated to entertainment, promising staff dance classes and even a talent show.

She also laughed that she couldn’t join an office run, flaunting her footwear and asking: ‘Have you not seen my Prada shoes?’