The former Home Secretary has said Boris Johnson ‘can’t talk about banning second jobs, he’s done plenty of that himself’ as he earned more than £4m from outside interests.
Amber Rudd said that Prime Minister Cameron will be subject to increased pressure because of the Tory scandal.
Rudd, who was elected as MP for Hastings and Rye in 2010, resigned as a cabinet minister in 2019 over the way Johnson was handling Brexit negotiations.
She replied, “He cannot speak about banning second-jobs because he’s done plenty.”
“It’s a hard discussion that needs to take place in the coming weeks or months on the right approach for second jobs.
Rudd stated, “I think that part the confusion is, in a manner, that our whole ministerial structure is set up to do second jobs.”
In the interview, she also stated that it wasn’t as dramatic as 2009’s parliamentary expenses scandal.
Amber Rudd (pictured), during an interview with LBC today, said that the Prime Minister would be under greater pressure due to the Tory sleaze controversy
Rudd, above), was elected MP for Hastings & Rye in 2010. He resigned in 2019 as cabinet minister over Johnson’s handling of Brexit negotiations.
It was revealed this week that Boris Johnson has earned more than £4m from outside interests in the last 14 years.
When he returned to parliament in 2015, he earned £1.6m, mainly as a backbencher between 2018 and 2019, the Financial Times reported.
The earnings included: £600,000 from columns, £500,000 from book advances and royalties and £450,000 from speeches.
Between 2007 and 2015, tax returns while he was mayor of London revealed he earnt £2.7m.
Those earnings included a £250,000-a-year Daily Telegraph column.
He is also allegedly continuing work on a Shakespeare biography which publisher Hodder and Stoughton commissioned in 2015.
In addition, he was editor of the Spectator magazine from 2001 at the same time as serving as an MP.
Boris Johnson, who became Prime Minister on July 2019 has yet to declare any sources of income private since then.
This comes just days after Owen Paterson, a former minister who violated lobbying rules was unsuccessfully blocked by the Prime Minister.
It was revealed this week that Boris Johnson has earned more than £4m from outside interests in the last 14 years
To help Paterson, the Prime Minister directed Tory MPs that they push for measures to remove anti-sleaze laws.
While the vote was approved, a number of Tory MPs rebelled. The PM was then forced to abandon his plan.
The Government was then rocked by the Mail’s revelation that Sir Geoffrey had been working in the British Virgin Islands, a tax haven accused of corruption.
He has earned more than £5.5million from his second jobs since 2009. He spent more than 30 hours per week outside his job for some years.
Mr Johnson told MPs this week to ‘put your job as an MP’ first and said that rule-breakers should be punished.
Ministers were concerned that he had not apologised for his actions, leading to concern from ministers about the extent of public anger.
Senior ministers have let it be known they were not consulted on the PM’s decision to back Mr Paterson, who was accused of an ‘egregious’ breach of lobbying rules on behalf of two firms that paid him more than £500,000.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak hinted at tensions over the issue, saying the Government had to ‘do better’ on the toxic issue.