Nice rack

As proof that grumpy does not level the accusation of hypocrisy only at the fairer sex, he highlights today a male candidate for focus.

In 2018, Chuka authored a paper entitled “Reciprocity at the top table : Progress boardroom pay”, in which he lambasted the high pay of company directors, especially in relation to the average minimum wage.

It was surprise then to learn of his accepting a role at the Progressive Centre (a second job, whereas some might feel that for 77 grand  a year MP’s should focus on doing better on representing their constituents), for which he was to be paid £5,420 per month for a stated 12 hours work.

The reader is left to do a few simple sums here, but assuming that a normal job might involve working for 1702 hours per year, that would leave someone on the minimum wage (currently £7.83 per hour) as earning circa £13,326 per year.

Much of the press focussed on the fact that he would be paid £65k per year, but that misses the point that only requires him to undertake 144 hours work for that sum. On equating the hourly rates (the only rational calculation) this shows that Labour MP, socialist, Chuka, is paid the equivalent of £767,600 per year, 57 times the minimum hourly rate.

It boggles the mind that, given his January paper on fat cats, he had the sheer bare faced gall to accept this role, if for no other reason than principle, if he had any. How does he square this to his voters ? On his very own analysis, it is an example of greed and excess.

Chuka has form in public utterances vs personal financial interest which reek of cant. according to Wikipedia, “Umunna was accused of hypocrisy for accepting a £20,000 gift from a gambling executive despite campaigning against the spread of betting shops in his constituency and promising new powers to limit them”

However, it’s merely an instance of a growing drift in politics between expectations of integrity standards  for the hoi polloi and those for the governing classes.