MPs earned almost £5m from second jobs and side hustles during the first year of the pandemic, openDemocracy can reveal.
While huge swathes of the population were furloughed, some parliamentarians topped up their income with paid advice to businesses on COVID policy, while others took jobs with firms that won test-and-trace contracts.
In all, more than a third of MPs reported additional earnings above their standard £82,000 salary since the first lockdown began on 23 March last year.
The highest earner was former prime minister Theresa May, who received £616,000 in speaking fees over the past 12 months – including more than £130,000 for three speeches delivered on video calls.
In August, onetime chancellor Sajid Javid took a £150,000-a-year job as an adviser to JP Morgan, which involves 80-96 hours of work per year.
While keeping his seat in Parliament, former attorney general Geoffrey Cox started a new job at an international law firm, Withers LLP – boasting an annual salary of £468,000 a year. Reports suggest Mr Cox will help the company to “open doors with foreign governments”.
Overall, 237 MPs declared outside earnings during the 12 months since 23 March 2020. Together, this amounts to £4.9m of extra pay.
“MPs lining their own pockets, or lining the pockets of their friends, during the pandemic is one of the real scandals of this crisis,” Green Party MP Caroline Lucas told openDemocracy.
“When millions have had no support at all during COVID and are facing destitution, it’s outrageous that MPs with connections have been able to make money advising companies which are seeking public-funded contracts.”
‘This needs to stop’
Several other MPs have seen their incomes rise as a direct result of the pandemic, according to parliament’s register of members’ interests.
In July, when the government was under pressure to increase COVID testing, Conservative MP Alun Cairns accepted a job advising a science company involved in testing. The former Welsh secretary said he was offered the £15,000-a-year role at BBI Group because he knew the chairman.
Tory MP Richard Fuller was paid £65,000 moonlighting at a venture capital firm called Investcorp Securities Ltd. This included £30,000 for “consultancy work on the impact of COVID on portfolio companies”.
One of those “portfolio companies” is Cambio, a private health firm, which was handed a £63,000 NHS contract last week, without competition from other providers.
Former environment secretary Owen Paterson was paid £100,000 a year to act as a consultant to Randox Laboratories Ltd, at a rate of £120 an hour. On 30 March, the company was awarded a £133m COVID-testing contract by the government, without any other companies being allowed to bid for the work. Less than two weeks later, Paterson personally spoke to health minister Lord Bethell on a phone call with Randox.
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Peter Geoghegan Martin Williams | Radio Free (2021-03-23T10:28:27+00:00) MPs earned £5m from second jobs during lockdown. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2021/03/23/mps-earned-5m-from-second-jobs-during-lockdown/
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