A false comparison

IS it fair to compare the high salaries and benefits of people on the public payroll with those of the Prime Minister? (Mail).

Many years ago, an analysis of the subject when harold Wilson was PM showed that if you include the free residence, with associated perks, travel, expenses, pension rights and extra privileges – plus the undoubted ‘monetary value’ placed on a PM when he leaves office (look at Tony Blair, the former PM who is now in demand as a public figure) – you would have to multiply the PM’s quoted salary by a factor of at least ten for it to be comparable with the quoted salaries of public-sector bosses at the time.

So comparing these supposed ‘fat cats’ £500,000 or more with Cameron’s ‘miserly’ £150,000 might be false.

C. D. ALLAN, Stoke-on-Trent