Yesterday I had a look at how much money Alistair Darling MP makes outside of politics (although it should be noted that he can only earn this money because of the privileged position he held in UK politics) and it turned out to be a substantial amount - substantially more than he earns for his work in politics. It struck me that his flying around the world to speak to big corporations must take up a fair bit of time and I started wondering whether that leaves him enough time to do the job we pay him to do so I had a wee look.
Ministers don't ask Parliamentary Questions (that would just be them asking themselves questions and would just be daft) and don't sign motions except Government motions (when a Minister speaks they're giving a Government position) so I've looked at the period since the 2010 UK general election. In those 41 months since he stopped being chancellor of the Exchequer and was able to ask PQs again Mr Darling has asked 57 questions.
As a comparison, Helen Eadie MSP has asked 265 PQs of the Scottish Government in the 29 months since the 2011 Scottish general election. Alistair Darling, facing the Tories, could only think of a question to ask once every three weeks while Helen Eadie, facing the SNP, asks a question every three days (that's counting weekends, days she's on holiday, Christmas and New Year's Day). One question every 22 days to the Tory/Lib Dem Government in Westminster, one question every three days to the SNP Government in Holyrood.
It strikes me that just about anyone in Scotland would have more than one question every three weeks to ask the current UK Government, never mind a former Chancellor who should know how Government works and where to go sniffing about. Maybe he's too busy promoting his book, writing newspaper articles and trousering fees for speaking engagements to bother doing the job he gets paid to do?
Maybe Helen Eadie would do the better job in Westminster? Eadie to leadie!
Wednesday, 16 October 2013
Tuesday, 15 October 2013
Ali D Indacash!
There's a lot of sense in Stewart Hosie's point that
the argument that says "stay part of the UK, there'll be another Labour
Government along sometime" is the equivalent of saying "18 years of
Thatcher and Major was worth it for 13 years of Blair and Brown". The
SNP MP for Dundee East was correct to point out that it really hasn't
done us much good over the piece, but Labour is now making that case
even more clearly. So, after Labour promised at the weekend to be tougher on benefits recipients than Tories (fewer bedrooms than you need, maybe, or scourged through the streets on a daily basis), I thought I'd take a wee look at the earnings of the Labour chap telling us all we'd be better off staying in the UK and waiting for a Labour Government, Alistair Darling MP. Now a backbencher he was once Chancellor of the Exchequer at a time when banks were going bust, the economy was going down the pan big style and it was being revealed that large companies and the wealthiest individuals in the UK were paying sod all tax.
I had a wee shuftie through Mr Darling's Register of Financial Interests to see how well he was doing. I've pasted three extracts from the register below. I think they cover the whole period, though.
In the year to the end of September this year Ali D sooked in £185,039 for making speeches and £3,384 for writing articles for newspapers - a nice wee soaking of £188,423 for the year to add to his salary as a backbench MP of £66,396 taking him to £254,819. That's more than he got paid as Chancellor. In fact, it's more than David Cameron gets paid to be Prime Minister (he gets £142,500 including his MP's salary).
Between getting horsed out of office in 2010 and August 2012 he cornered another £447,268.43 in speaking fees, writing fees, gifts, travel and accommodation. That's £635,691.43 in declared outside earnings since the 2010 general election. Add on his £263,610 of salary for the job he should have been doing while he was speaking, writing, travelling, wining, dining and accepting gifts and the total rises to £899,301.43. By Christmas he may have broken the million pounds barrier.
Tough on benefits? They've got no idea how tough it is to be on benefits. Kicking the poor from a position of affluence and power, and they have the affrontery to suggest that other people might be less socially just than they are, the sheer brass neck to say that other people have their sums wrong, the smug arrogance to say "wait a few years and a change in Government in London will make it all better together."
Some face.
Excerpts from Register:
30th September 2013
I had a wee shuftie through Mr Darling's Register of Financial Interests to see how well he was doing. I've pasted three extracts from the register below. I think they cover the whole period, though.
In the year to the end of September this year Ali D sooked in £185,039 for making speeches and £3,384 for writing articles for newspapers - a nice wee soaking of £188,423 for the year to add to his salary as a backbench MP of £66,396 taking him to £254,819. That's more than he got paid as Chancellor. In fact, it's more than David Cameron gets paid to be Prime Minister (he gets £142,500 including his MP's salary).
Between getting horsed out of office in 2010 and August 2012 he cornered another £447,268.43 in speaking fees, writing fees, gifts, travel and accommodation. That's £635,691.43 in declared outside earnings since the 2010 general election. Add on his £263,610 of salary for the job he should have been doing while he was speaking, writing, travelling, wining, dining and accepting gifts and the total rises to £899,301.43. By Christmas he may have broken the million pounds barrier.
Tough on benefits? They've got no idea how tough it is to be on benefits. Kicking the poor from a position of affluence and power, and they have the affrontery to suggest that other people might be less socially just than they are, the sheer brass neck to say that other people have their sums wrong, the smug arrogance to say "wait a few years and a change in Government in London will make it all better together."
Some face.
Excerpts from Register:
30th September 2013
Remunerated employment, office, profession etc
Contract with Atlantic Books, Ormond House, 26/27 Boswell street, London WC1N 3JW for publication of book. (Registered 25 March 2011)
All fees listed below between 1 May 2011 and 28 May 2013 include VAT. (Registered 24 June 2013)
Fees for speeches paid by JLA Associates, 80 Great Portland Street, London W1W 7NW:
6 September
2012, I received a fee of £10,200 for speaking at a conference organised
by Aberdeen Asset Management. Hours: approx 3 hours, plus travelling
time. (Registered 18 September 2012)
27 September
2012, I received a fee of £12,240 in respect of speaking at a conference
organised by Apollo Management International LLP. Hours: approx 2
hours, including travel time. (Registered 11 October 2012)
19 November
2012, I received a fee of £12,240 for speaking at an event organised by
British Property Federation, in London. Hours: approx 4 hrs. (Registered 26 November 2012)
11 December
2012, I received a payment of £12,240 in respect of a fee for speaking
at an event organised by Slaughter & May LLP, London. Hours: 4 hrs.
(Registered 20 December 2012)
11 December
2012, I received a payment of £12,240 in respect of a fee for speaking
at an event organised by Scor Insurance, London. Hours: 4 hrs. (Registered 20 December 2012)
25 January 2013,
I received a fee of £12,999 which included £249.60 in respect of travel
costs for speaking at a seminar organised by Pru Health. Hours: 5 hrs.
(Registered 8 February 2013)
22 March 2013, I
received a fee of £12,240 in respect of speaking at an event organised
by BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Ltd, in Hampshire. Hours:
approx. 6 hrs, including travel time. (Registered 28 March 2013)
22 March 2013, I
received a fee of £12,240 in respect of speaking at an event organised
by the Automotive Fellowship International Ltd, in Buckinghamshire.
Hours: approx. 6 hrs, including travel time. (Registered 28 March 2013)
28 March 2013, I
received a fee of £10,200 in respect of speaking at an event organised
by Credit Agricole Group, in London. Hours: approx. 4 hrs, including
travel time. (Registered 28 March 2013)
28 May 2013, I
received a fee of £15,300 for speaking at a conference organised by JP
Morgan Chase & Co in London. Hours: approx. 4 hrs. (Registered 6 June 2013)
28 May 2013, I
received a fee of £15,300 for speaking at a conference organised by
Global Absolute Return Congress in London. Hours: approx. 5 hrs. (Registered 6 June 2013)
13 June 2013, I received a fee of £10,200 in respect of speaking
at a conference organised by Price Waterhouse Cooper LLP, accountants.
They paid for overnight accommodation at a cost of £210. Hours:
approx. 18 hrs including travelling and overnight stay.
(Registered 24 June 2013)
1 July 2013, I received a fee of £8,500 for addressing a
conference organised by Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, London. Hours:
approx. 4 hrs.
(Registered 12 July 2013)
1 July 2013, I received a fee of £12,750 for speaking at a
conference organised by Incisive Financial Publishing Ltd in Monaco.
Travelling costs of £1,234 and overnight accommodation costing £278 were
met by Incisive Financial Publishing Ltd, Haymarket House, 28/29
Haymarket, London SW1Y 4RX. Hours: approx. 26 hrs including travelling
and overnight accommodation.
(Registered 12 July 2013)
12 July 2013, I received a payment of £8,500 for speaking at an
event organised by Jefferies Bauch in London. Hours: approx. 3 hrs.
(Registered 19 July 2013)
20 September 2013, I received a fee of £7,650 in respect of speaking at an event organised by Ashurst LLP in
London. Hours:
approx. 4 hrs.
(Registered 26 September 2013)
Payments from MGN Ltd, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AP:
5 September 2012, I received a payment of £600 in respect of an article published by the Daily Mirror. Hours: approx 2 hrs. (Registered 18 September 2012)
Payments from Guardian Newspapers, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GO, for writing articles for the Guardian newspaper:
8 December 2012, I received a payment of £342 Hours: 2 hrs. (Registered 20 December 2012)
28 March 2013, I received a payment of £342. Hours: approx 2 hrs. (Registered 28 March 2013)
22 May 2013, I
received a fee of £600 for an article in The Times newspaper. Address
of payer: The Times, 3 Thomas More Square, London E98 1TT. Hours:
approx 3 hrs. (Registered 6 June 2013)
2
September 2013, I received a payment of £750 from Associated Newspapers
Ltd in respect of an article published in the Mail on Sunday. Address
of payer: Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT. Hours:
approx. 4 hrs. (Registered 26 September 2013)
23
September 2013, I received a payment of £750 in respect of an article
in The Times newspaper. Address of payer: News UK and Ireland Ltd, PO
Box 151, Peterborough, PE7 8YT. Hours: approx. 4 hrs. (Registered 26 September 2013)
11. Miscellaneous
Unremunerated Director and Chairman of BetterTogether 2012 Ltd (from 1 June 2012). (Registered 21 June 2012)
2. Remunerated employment, office, profession etc
Contract with
Atlantic Books, Ormond House, 26/27 Boswell street, London WC1N 3JW for
publication of book. The contract provides for a total advance payment
of £75,000 prior to publication.
10 May 2012, I received a payment of £23,879.28 in respect of royalties from the sale of my book. No additional hours worked. (Registered 30 May 2012)
14 June 2012, I
received a payment of £4,775.86 in respect of VAT due on royalties from
book sales, registered on 30 May 2012. No additional hours worked. (Registered 21 June 2012)
In respect of
the contract with Atlantic Books I have attended the following events .
No fee was paid to me but transport and accommodation costs were met as
follows:
3 February 2012,
Winter Words Book Festival, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Pitlochry,
Perthshire. Accommodation provided for my wife and me; value £104.
This was met jointly by the festival and Atlantic Books. Hours: approx.
2 hrs plus travel. (Registered 5 February 2012)
11 March 2012,
Aldeburgh Book Festival, 42 High Street, Aldeburgh, Suffolk. Transport
costs for me and my wife of £94 were met by Atlantic Books and £60 by
the festival. Hours: approximately 2 hours plus travel. (Registered 26 March 2012)
25 March 2012,
Oxford Book Festival; transport costs for me and my wife, total £65,
paid by Atlantic Books. Hours: approximately 2 hrs plus travel. (Registered 26 March 2012)
9 June 2012, Hay
Book Festival, 25 Lion Street, Hay-on-Wye; hotel accommodation for me
and my wife; cost £225, and our return flights from Edinburgh to
Birmingham; cost £259.62, were paid for by Atlantic Books. Car
transport from Birmingham to Hay-on-Wye; cost £400 return, was paid by
festival organisers. Hours: 2 hrs plus travel. (Registered 21 June 2012)
15 June 2012,
Althorpe Book Festival; transport costs from London to the festival and
on to Edinburgh for me and my wife; cost £359.68, were paid by Atlantic
Books. Hours: 2 hrs plus travel. (Registered 21 June 2012)
Payments from News International Trading Ltd, 3 Thomas More Square, London E98 1TT:
20 February 2012, I received a fee of £600 for an article for The Times. Hours: 3 hrs approx. (Registered 2 March 2012)
Fees for speeches paid by JLA Associates, 80 Great Portland Street, London W1W 7NW:
24 January 2012,
I received a fee of £15,300 for speaking at an event organised by Grant
Thornton accountants in London. Hours: approx 5-6 hrs. (Registered 5 February 2012)
16 February
2012, I received a fee of £20,400 for speaking at an event organised by
Thompson Reuters in Hong Kong. Thompson Reuters, 30 South Colonnade,
the Reuters Building, London E14 5EP paid for my return flight from
London to Hong Kong; cost £2,942.43, and hotel accommodation including
transfer from airport to the hotel, return, for myself and my wife; cost
£713.10. I met the cost of my wife’s travel. Hours: 4 days, including
travel, preparation and the event. (Registered 2 March 2012)
27 March 2012, I
received a fee of £15,300 for speaking at an event organised by
Linklaters, solicitors, in London. Hours: approx 4 hrs. (Registered 13 April 2012)
20 April 2012, I
received a payment of £20,400 for speaking at a conference in Dubai.
Transport costs of £2,669.82 and hotel accommodation at a cost of
£326.07 were paid by the organisers, Falcon Group Administrative
Services (UK) Ltd, 30 St Mary Axe, London EC3A 9BF. Hours: approx 2.5
days including travel time. (Registered 2 May 2012)
8 June 2012, I received a payment of £12,750 for speaking at an event organised by JC Flowers & Co UK Ltd. Hours: 3 hrs. (Registered 21 June 2012)
19 July 2012, I
received a payment of £12,240 for speaking at an event organised by
Emap/Retail Week in London. Hours: approx 3 hrs. (Registered 24 July 2012)
6 September
2012, I received a fee of £10,200 for speaking at a conference organised
by Aberdeen Asset Management. Hours: approx 3 hours, plus travelling
time. (Registered 18 September 2012)
27 September
2012, I received a fee of £12,240 in respect of speaking at a conference
organised by Apollo Management International LLP. Hours: approx 2
hours, including travel time. (Registered 11 October 2012)
19 November
2012, I received a fee of £12,240 for speaking at an event organised by
British Property Federation, in London. Hours: approx 4 hrs. (Registered 26 November 2012)
11 December
2012, I received a payment of £12,240 in respect of a fee for speaking
at an event organised by Slaughter & May LLP, London. Hours: 4 hrs.
(Registered 20 December 2012)
11 December
2012, I received a payment of £12,240 in respect of a fee for speaking
at an event organised by Scor Insurance, London. Hours: 4 hrs. (Registered 20 December 2012)
8 June 2012, I
received a payment of £1,200 from Associated Newspapers Ltd,
Northcliffe House, 2 Derry street, London W8 5TT, for an article in the
Mail on Sunday. Hours: 4 hrs approx. (Registered 21 June 2012)
Payments from MGN Ltd, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AP:
22 June 2012, I received a payment of £720for an article published in the Sunday Mirror. Hours: approx 3 hrs. (Registered 25 June 2012)
5 September 2012, I received a payment of £600 in respect of an article published by the Daily Mirror. Hours: approx 2 hrs. (Registered 18 September 2012)
8 December
2012, I received a payment of £342 from Guardian Newspapers, Kings
Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GO, in respect of writing an article for
the Guardian newspaper. Hours: 2 hrs. (Registered 20 December 2012)
11. Miscellaneous
Unremunerated Director and Chairman of BetterTogether 2012 Ltd (from 1 June 2012). (Registered 21 June 2012)
2. Remunerated employment, office, profession etc
9 October 2010, I
received a fee of £150 for speaking at the Cheltenham Book Festival.
Travel and overnight accommodation was provided for myself and my wife.
Address: Cheltenham Festivals, 109/11 Bath Road, Cheltenham GL53 7LS.
Hours: 3 hrs approx. (Registered 2 November 2010)
22 October 2010, I
received a fee of £500 for reviewing Tony Blair’s book ‘A Journey’.
Address of payer: Guardian News and Media, 1 Scott Place, Manchester M3
3GG. Hours: 3-4 hrs. (Registered 2 November 2010)
5 November 2010, I
received a fee of £500 for appearing on BBC television programme ‘This
Week’. Address of payer: BBC, PO Box 480, Manchester M14 OEL. Hours:
1 hr. (Registered 24 November 2010)
7 December 2010, I
received a bottle of malt whisky, estimated value £125, from Hermes
Focus Asset Management Ltd, 1 Portsoken Street, London E1 8HZ, for
addressing investment managers at a dinner on 15 November 2010. Hours: 3
hrs. (Registered 17 December 2010)
Contract with
Atlantic Books, Ormond House, 26/27 Boswell street, London WC1N 3JW for
publication of book. The contract provides for a total advance payment
of £75,000 prior to publication.
3 March 2011, I
received a payment of £25,000 being the first instalment of an advance
in respect of contract. Hours: 400 hrs approx. (Registered 24 March 2011)
7 July 2011, I
received a payment of £25,000 being the second instalment of an advance
in respect of contract. Hours: 600 hrs approx. (Registered 8 July 2011)
15 September 2011, I received a payment of £25,000 being the third instalment of an advance. Hours: 400 hrs approx. (Registered 2 October 2011)
13 October 2011, I received a payment of £10,000 as VAT due in respect of the second and third instalments of advance. (Registered 4 November 2011)
In respect of
the contract with Atlantic Books I have attended the following events .
No fee was paid to me but transport and accommodation costs were met as
follows:
11 September
2011, Dun Laoghaire Literary Festival, 137 Hillside, Co Dublin, Ireland.
Transport costs of £616.30 for myself and my wife met by Atlantic
Books. Accommodation paid for by the festival organisers; cost £105.
Hours: approximately 2 hrs plus travel. (Registered 2 October 2011)
16 September
2011, Woodstock Literary Festival, 301 Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 3NY.
Transport costs for myself and my wife of £132.60 paid by festival
organisers and £43 paid for by Atlantic Books. Hours: approximately 2
hrs plus travel. (Registered 2 October 2011)
19 September
2011, book signing organised by the Edinburgh Bookshop, 219 Bruntsfield
Place, Edinburgh EH10, who met costs of £109.50. Additional cost of £48
met by Atlantic Books. Hours: approximately 2 hrs plus travel. (Registered 2 October 2011)
21 September
2011, Ely Book Festival. Transport costs £264.72 paid by Atlantic
Books. Hours: approximately 2 hrs plus travel. (Registered 2 October 2011)
30 September
2011, Henley Festival. Transport costs £264.65 paid by Atlantic Books.
Festival organisers paid for additional transport and a gift of wine;
total cost £82. Hours: approximately 2 hrs plus travel. (Registered 2 October 2011)
5 October 2011,
Wimbledon Book Festival, 1 Archway Mews, 241 Putney Bridge Road, London
SW15 2PE. Transport costs of £58.15 plus VAT for my wife and me paid by
festival organisers. Flights Edinburgh to London paid by Atlantic
books; cost £138. Hours: approximately 2 hrs plus travel. (Registered 15 October 2011)
8 October 2011,
Cheltenham Book Festival. 109/11 Bath Road, Cheltenham GL53 7LS.
Transport and accommodation costs of £183.15 for my wife and me paid by
festival organisers. Hours: 24 hrs. (Registered 15 October 2011)
13 October 2011,
event organised by City Books, 23 Western Road, Hove BN3. Event costs
of £770 (plus VAT) plus transport and refreshment costs of £69 for my
wife and me paid by Atlantic Books. I also received a book token worth
£50. Hours: approximately 2 hrs plus travel. (Registered 15 October 2011)
22 October 2011,
Durham Book Festival. The cost of return transport for my wife and me
from Edinburgh to Durham; estimated cost £159, and our overnight
accommodation; estimated cost £109, was paid for by East Coast Trains
and Radisson Blu Hotels respectively, in their capacity as festival
sponsors. Hours: approximately 2 hrs plus travel. (Registered 4 November 2011)
28 October 2011,
Hebridean Book Festival, Stornaway. Air transport from Edinburgh to
Stornoway for my wife and me provided by Atlantic Books; cost £426.12.
No accommodation costs. Hours: approximately 2 hrs plus travel. (Registered 4 November 2001)
4 November 2011,
Lennoxlove Book Festival, Lennoxlove House, Haddington, East Lothian.
Accommodation provided for my wife and me; value £225. Hours:
approximately 2 hrs plus travel. (Registered 4 November 2011)
27 November
2011, Cambridge Wordfest Winter 2011, 7 Downing Place, Cambridge CB2
3EL. Transport costs from Edinburgh to Cambridge and on to London were
paid by Atlantic Books at a cost of £185 for myself and my wife.
Overnight accommodation was provided; value £205. (Registered 28 November 2011)
Payments from The Times newspaper, 3 Thomas More Square, London E98 1TT:
28 March 2011, I
received six bottles of wine, approximate value £89, from The Times, in
respect of chairing a session at a conference organised by the
newspaper. Hours: 3 hrs approx. (Registered 6 April 2011)
8 July 2011, I received a fee of £600 for an article for The Times. Hours: 3-4 approx. (Registered 8 July 2011)
Fees for speeches paid by JLA Associates, 80 Great Portland Street, London W1W 7NW:
20 October 2010,
I received a fee of £9,350 for addressing the Association of Financial
Markets in Europe. Hours: 6-7 hours approx. (Registered 2 November 2010)
26 November
2010, I received a fee of £10,200 for addressing a seminar organised by
Dewey & leBoeuf, solicitors, London. Hours: 6-7 approx. (Registered 9 December 2010)
1 February 2011,
I received a fee of £12,750 for speaking at The Centre of Political and
Foreign Affairs in Paris. Transport from Edinburgh to Paris and
returning to London was provided for myself and my wife; total cost
£1,902. Accommodation was also provided for myself and my wife; total
cost £1,345.77. Hours: approx 48 hrs. (Registered 13 February 2011)
7 April 2011, I received a fee of £10,200 for addressing a dinner organised by Cinven, London. Hours: approx 6 hrs. (Registered 25 April 2011)
7 April 2011, I
received a fee of £12,750 for addressing a dinner organised by
Macquarrrie Group, London. Hours: approx 6 hrs. (Registered 25 April 2011)
23 June 2011, I received a fee of £15,300 for speaking at an event organised by Bloombergs in London. Hours: 6-7 approx. (Registered 8 July 2011)
16 November
2011, I received a fee of £10,500 for speaking at an event organised by
the Bank of New York Mellon/Pershing, in London. Hours: approx 5-6 hrs.
(Registered 28 November 2011)
6. Overseas visits
Name of donor: Meridiam
Address of donor: 5 Allee Scheffer, L-2520 Luxembourg
Amount of donation (or estimate of the probable value): train fare and accommodation in Paris; total value £937.61
Destination of visit: Paris
Date of visit: 26 April 2011
Purpose of visit: attending seminar
(Registered 17 May 2011)