Two-Faced
Clegg takes £4m-a-year Facebook job despite blasting it for not paying ‘all the tax it could’
SIR Nick Clegg sparked political uproar by landing a multi-million pound job lobbying for Facebook.
The ex-Deputy Prime Minister is the highest profile former politician to secure a Silicon Valley exec role.
Labour branded the move a “damning indictment” of the link between politics and big business.
Sir Nick, one-time Lib Dem leader, could be paid more than £4million a year in a deal involving share options.
Yet he was accused of being twofaced as he has slammed the social media giant in the past for not paying “all the tax it could”.
Facebook’s UK bill last year was just £7.4million on what it claimed was profits of £62.8million.
Sir Nick, 51, joins Facebook as vice-president of global affairs and communications team, starting on Monday at the HQ in California.
He will return to London at weekends until wife Miriam Gonzalez Durantez and their three children move to the States in the new year.
But Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jon Trickett said: “It is a damning indictment of our politics that, at a time when digital
giants such as Facebook are coming under public scrutiny, our former Deputy Prime Minister has been hired to lobby on their behalf. “Labour is committed to slamming shut the revolving door between politics and big business, which has corroded public trust in politics.” Facebook has been criticised by users and lawmakers over BOSS Mark Zuckerberg
privacy and election meddling scandals. But Sir Nick, reportedly worth £3million, called the move “an exciting adventure”.
He added: “Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, Oculus and Instagram are at the heart of people’s everyday lives but also at the heart of some of the most complex questions we face as a society.”