Former PMs clock up the allowances
Did you know that former Prime Ministers are allowed an allowance of up to £115,000 a year. The money is to meet the costs of fulfilling public duties associated with the role of a former PM.
The last four premiers all claimed the cash, with John Major and Tony Blair claiming the full whack in 2011-12. Gordon Brown claimed just under the maximum amount - to the tune of £1.83.Margaret Thatcher's allowance was £109,191 in 2011-12.
The figures were released in a written Parliamentary answer from Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude who said:
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
"Information for the period April 1991 to March 1997 is no longer held. The current limit, which was last reviewed in 2011, is £115,000. The amounts paid in 2011-12 are as follows:
2011-12 £
Gordon Brown 114,998.17
Margaret Thatcher 109,191.00
John Major 115,000.00
Tony Blair 115,000.00
"The allowance, which is a reimbursement allowance, is paid to meet the costs of continuing to fulfil public duties associated with the role of a former Prime Minister.
"Former Prime Ministers are not eligible for the allowance should they hold the office of Leader of the Official Opposition.
"Claims are processed by the Cabinet Office and form part of the annual audit of Cabinet Office expenditure.
"There are no plans to transfer responsibility for payment of the allowance to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA)."
"All former Prime Ministers are provided with guidance on the PDCA."
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They were very poor value when in office and should not be paid now at all. I also think that Blair and Brown should be tried for war crimes, why are we paying them ?
I am sitting here drinking my morning coffee and honestly I feel physically sick after reading this.
Could a further FOI request discover how Blair and Major managed to rack up exactly the full allowance amount and Brown squeezed it to within an inch of the maximum?
Now we know what Gordon spends his retirement doing.. calculating expenses to within a few percent of the maximum claimable.. oh if he had shown such diligence when running (or is that ruining?) the UK economy. Wait, he did.. he calculated very accurately how much tax he could take from us without collapsing the whole thing and now we are picking up the pieces. And before anyone says 'oh but it was the banks' please think under who's guiding hand the regulatory system was running.