Today the rules change on ministerial severance payments – new regulations will exclude those dismissed for serious breaches of the ministerial code or misconduct from receiving the payout. Nice timing for some…
Angela Rayner would have been blocked from receiving her severance package of £16,876 under the new rules. Nick Thomas-Symonds said last month of the new changes: “while this is implemented, decisions as to whether a Minister accepts a severance payment is for the outgoing Minister.” Pointed considering what Rayner has said about severance payments in the recent past…
She complained in 2021:
“The Tory ministers who lost their jobs today will all get a £17,000 bonus on their way out the door. After failing the public, they get a taxpayer-funded golden goodbye.”
And in June 2023:
“We need to end the scandal of ministers who break the rules walking away with thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money as a reward.”
“It’s time to stop these golden goodbyes. Ministers who are sacked or resign in disgrace shouldn’t receive a payout funded by the public.”
Should Rayner keep her payout the taxpayer will lose out again. She does have to pay back that tax bill…
If the former DPM intends to relinquish the £17,000 expect a breathless write-up in the Guardian to roll the pitch for her eventual return. Either way it’s quids in…