Brady under fire over £800-an-hour job
BUT TORY CHIEF INSISTS HE HAS STUCK TO LETTER AND SPIRIT OF RULES
SIR Graham Brady is facing questions about a job which paid him the equivalent of £800 per hour.
The advisory role for a management consultancy firm, which has no website and is owned by a constituent, paid him a total of £10,000 for around 12 hours of work, The Guardian reported.
But Sir Graham – MP for Altrincham and Sale West and chairman of the Conservatives’ influential 1922 Committee – said he has meticulously stuck to the rules.
He declared the role ahead of a committee meeting to discuss Boris Johnson’s plans to crack down on second jobs.
Labour MPs are now calling for Sir Graham to refer himself to the parliamentary commissioner for guidance on how to declare the nature of the business he was advising on.
Angela Rayner, the MP for Ashton Under Lyne, tweeted: “A senior Conservative MP is paid £10,000 a year for 12 hours’ work in his second job.
“But nobody knows what (the company) does, so how can his constituents and the public know what he is doing or whether there is a conflict of interest?”
Local Labour councillors are also concerned.
Coun Ben Hartley, councillor for Ashton on Mersey ward for Trafford council, tweeted: “Some serious questions for Sir Graham Brady to answer here.
“Wish I had a close personal friend who paid me £800 an hour for occasional advice.
“Will he be transparent with people of Altrincham and Sale West what the nature of this second job is?”
Coun Mike Freeman replied: “Not holding my breath.”
But the 1922 Committee chairman told The Guardian that the company belongs to a ‘close personal friend’ that he was paid to advise on marketing and communication matters.
Sir Graham said: “There is nothing opaque in this.
“I have made a full declaration and have always been scrupulous in following not just the letter, but the spirit of the MPs’ Code of Conduct.”