Liz Truss has claimed benefits from the former prime ministers’ fund despite only 49 days in office
iz Truss has laid claim to the £115,000-a-year public fund awarded to former prime ministers despite only being in office for 49 days.
Cabinet Office accounts published on Tuesday show the Conservative MP claimed £23,310 in the first five months of her term.
She was understood to have continued to claim in the current financial year, which began in April, but the amount will not be disclosed until next year’s report.
Ms. Truss’ office declined to comment.
If Liz Truss wants to cut taxes, she should lead by example and stop ripping off hard-working British taxpayers by demanding handouts
After she announced her resignation, Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer was among those who argued that Ms Truss should “resign” because of the short time she spent in No 10.
Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokeswoman Christine Jardine called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to “do the right thing and stop Liz Truss from claiming taxpayers’ money from the former prime minister’s fund”.
“It is a scandal that Liz Truss is profiting from her own failures while families struggle to pay their bills and put food on the table,” she said.
“If Liz Truss wants to cut taxes, she should lead by example and stop ripping off hard-working British taxpayers by demanding handouts.”
The public charges allowance gives former prime ministers up to £115,000 a year to cover office and secretarial costs arising from public duties.
Sir Tony Blair and Sir John Major were the only former frontrunners to claim the top amount in 2022/23, although Gordon Brown was close with £114,627.
Ms Truss’s chaotic tenure in the No 10 party ended on October 25 after she lost the support of Tory MPs.
On Monday she defended her economic crisis-inducing mini-Budget, a year after her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled the £45bn package of unfunded tax cuts.
She criticized economists and the “institutional bureaucracy” for her downfall as she hinted at further plans to intervene in Tory politics at next month’s party conference.
The Cabinet Office bills also detailed the total cost of Boris Johnson’s taxpayer-funded legal defense as part of the investigation which found he lied to MPs about Partygate.
The final cost was estimated at £263,079, which is consistent with departmental figures.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/liz-truss-keir-starmer-gordon-brown-rishi-sunak-conservative-b1108064.html Liz Truss has claimed benefits from the former prime ministers’ fund despite only 49 days in office
