Elected MP for Leicester East, Claudia Webbe, a hard-Left Corbynite, is staying close to her former leader in more ways than one.
Figures from the MPs’ Register of Interests show she is working 15 hours a month as a councillor in Islington — where Corbyn is an MP and which is 100 miles from Leicester — and claiming payments from the council for it.
So far, in the ten months since she was elected to Parliament in December, she has pocketed £8,765 from this extra role, topping up her £82,000 MP’s salary.
Elected MP for Leicester East, Claudia Webbe, a hard-Left Corbynite, is staying close to her former leader in more ways than one (pictured with Jeremy Corbyn)
Webbe was due to stand down as a councillor in April but the by-election for her Bunhill Ward has been put off until next May because of the pandemic.
Matt Vickers, who was elected Tory MP for Stockton South in December, has also retained his place on his local council but does not claim any allowances.
The former Lib Dem leader of Islington Council, Terry Stacy, said: ‘The people of Leicester East are being short-changed, as are the residents of Islington.
‘She should do the honourable thing and at least donate the thousands she has claimed to a worthy Islington charity.
‘She has become an embarrassment to the borough.’
Last month, Webbe lost the Labour whip after she was charged with harassment of another woman. She denies any wrongdoing.
After Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham’s grandstanding over government aid to move into Tier Three Covid restrictions, the ITV programme Loose Women debated the question: Is Andy Burnham the new Brad Pitt? The answer? A resounding no.
Oh put a stopcock in it, Rishi!
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak speaks during a virtual briefing outlining new Covid-19 rules that are due to be imposed across the nation at Downing Street on October 12
Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s absurd advice to thespians struggling to find work to retrain as plumbers has cut little ice with Elaine Paige.
The award-winning singer has rewritten the lines from Don’t Cry For Me Argentina from Evita, the show which catapulted her to international stardom.
‘Don’t cry for me, Rishi Sunak,
The truth is it was, your sump pump,
I’ve cleared my, vent stack,
And fixed the, power flush
I kept my promise, Now pay your invoice.’
In an attempt to burnish his man of the people credentials, Business Secretary Alok Sharma revealed he was a fan of Reading football club when he was interviewed by Nick Ferrari on LBC.
‘Which division are they in?’ asked Ferrari.
Sharma, the MP for Reading West, replied: ‘Division One.’
Ferrari corrected the minister: ‘They are in the English Football League Championship.
‘English football is clinging to life and you don’t even know what division they’re in.’
It got worse when Ferrari asked what position Reading were in.
Sharma replied. ‘I think they are doing ok.’ Reading are in fact top of the table.
Mrs T and a crockery monsieur
John Sergeant was famously bulldozed in front of the TV cameras by Mrs Thatcher when she emerged from the Paris embassy after the first round of voting in the 1990 Tory leadership contest.
Sergeant, the ITN political editor, has recalled another bruising encounter with the Iron Lady on a flight to Moscow in 1987.
The press were served a big meal and Sergeant recollects the moment when Mrs T appeared: ‘I stood up like a gentleman and to my embarrassment all the food and crockery hit the floor.‘
Sergeant, the ITN political editor, has recalled another bruising encounter with the Iron Lady on a flight to Moscow in 1987
Mrs T bent down to clear up the mess saying: ‘You stay where you are. I’ll sort this out.’
Her meaning was clear.
Sergeant says: ‘I was the idiot male. She loved that.’
When it comes to the muddled UK flight quarantine rules, one of the loudest critics on the Tory benches is former Prime Minister Theresa May.
May will now have even more reason to be cross.
She was due to be made a Dame of the Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of St Agatha in San Marino, but the tiny Italian principality has been added to the quarantine list.
This means her trip is off.
The ceremony has been rescheduled for January, unless of course the daft quarantine rules are still in place.