75ZT Community

There are SO MANY things not right about this....

'Former energy secretary Chris Huhne is to receive a £17,000 payoff after quitting the Cabinet to fight charges of perverting the course of justice, it has been confirmed.
Ministers are entitled to severance pay equivalent to three months of their ministerial salary when they leave the Government. However, the money is not paid to them automatically, but must be claimed by the MP in question.
Mr Huhne has come under pressure from opponents not to claim the tax-free payment, after becoming the first government minister in living memory to be forced out of office by a criminal prosecution.
But the Cabinet Office said: "We can confirm that, following his resignation from the Cabinet, Chris Huhne will receive a severance payment of three months of his ministerial salary."
Before his resignation on February 3, he received annual ministerial pay of £68,827 on top of his £65,738 salary as MP for Eastleigh.
He denies perverting the course of justice by asking his then wife to take speeding penalty points onto her driving licence. Mr Huhne and his ex-wife Vicky Pryce are due to appear at Southwark Crown Court on March 2.'

But you have to admire his brass neck.....t'is well polished...

One of the joys of being the rule makers.

I can understand him taking the money, how would you fare if your income was suddenly halved.

He must be facing severe hardship so the £17k will help tied him over.........oh, forgot he is a multi-millionaire as are most of the Cabinet, so the £17k will just be a little small change in his pocket.

I don't usually have much to say in Huhne's favour but you can't really blame him for taking the money if, like he claims, he is innocent of the charges,

If he is subsequently proven to be guilty however . . . . .

Tourerfogey wrote:I don't usually have much to say in Huhne's favour but you can't really blame him for taking the money if, like he claims, he is innocent of the charges,

If he is subsequently proven to be guilty however . . . . .

Think the point is that he does not need the money and perhaps our politicians, who have been responsible for borrowing money until it is a problem, need to make a gesture to those whose pay has / is being affected.

They were cought out with their noses in the expenses trough - and perhaps if the Telegraph had not got hold of the information then the powers that be would have found a huge carpet to sweep it under. They now want the various controls taken off of the expenses so they can go back to the fiddling that once was.