BBC and MPs

Here's an interesting article from the Guido Fawkes web site which shines a light on the extraordinary extra-parliamentary earnings of London Labour MP, Diane Abbott.

Now Diane is one of Labour's most 'left wing' and socialist-minded MPs, yet she doesn't seem to see any contradiction between her political beliefs and earning that kind of money in a second job or, for example, in sending her son to a private school. 

£600,000 over 7 years is clearly much more than Diane would have earned in her MP's salary during that time, but the biggest irony is that these TV appearances are about furthering her own interests as a politician and/or those of her own (Labour) party.

So why pay all this additional public money to someone who is really just doing their normal day job - it's a bit like a trade union official demanding 'appearance' money just for going on the telly to speak up on behalf of her/his members?

Diane Abbott Pockets £110,000 of Licence Fee Payer Cash



Not only does the taxpayer fork out £67,000 a year to keep Diane Abbott in the style to which she has become accustomed, her salary is also subsidised by the licence fee payer to the tune of £110,000. As Guido revealed in yesterday’s Sun on Sunday, Diane has raked in a six figure sum from Auntie Beeb for her appearance fees since April 2007. Despite the BBC Trust admitting two years ago that Abbott was overpaid. You can see the full breakdown of her BBC cash via the BanTheBBC blog here. That means Diane has trousered nearly £600,000 from the British public in the last seven years…