In his column “Toffs who play at being comrades” (September 30) Toby Young stated that Gordon Brown now charges £70,000 for an after-dinner speech.
We are happy to clarify that Mr Brown does not receive such money personally, and that all revenue from his speaking engagements goes to fund Mr and Mrs Brown’s charitable work and their involvement in public life.
The Sun, 25 October 2012:
“Brown's duty bill hits £114k” (July 18). We are happy to clarify that Gordon Brown’s allowance goes directly to office and staff costs incurred as a former PM and is not received by him personally. We acknowledge that expenses incurred in staffing are not “earned” as stated. His only personal income is his salary as an MP and he renounced the pension he is entitled to as a former Prime Minister.
The Sun, 18 January 2013:
In an article “Brown in £30,000 expenses row” (Aug 18), based on the Conservative Party’s statements about Gordon Brown’s expenses, we would like to make clear that Mr Brown does not claim for accommodation expenses when visiting London on parliamentary business. We regret any confusion caused.
The Sun, 22 January 2013:
In an article ‘Gordon is browned off’ (Sept 28) we stated that a Gordon Brown press conference in New York was cancelled when only one reporter turned up.
We would like to make it clear that Mr Brown was delayed at an earlier United Nations meeting which overran, paying tribute to Aung San Suu Kyi. We are happy to clarify the position.
(Huge hat-tip to Tim Fenton at Zelo Street for spotting these.)
Posts
"We are happy to clarify the position." I somehow doubt that.
ReplyDeleteGordon Brown might not personally get the money into his personal bank account via a cheque made out to him personally. But he stills gets the money. He's still owner of the company along with his wife. And for a such a small company it has massive staff costs.
ReplyDeleteAs for the meeting - so it wasn't cancelled on a technicality, but he doesn't deny that only one reporter turned up.
What ever the facts of the apologies above, one fact is still true - GB is the worst PM ever!
Jesus! And Camscum and the Artful Dodger aren't worse? Are you mad? :)
Delete@SadButMadLad - which bit of "His only personal income is his salary as an MP" don't you understand?
ReplyDeleteIf you were to rank all British Prime Ministers, I would be astonished if Gordon Brown was at the very bottom. Surely Anthony Eden, Alec Douglas-Home and Arthur Balfour would be lower down the list? Furthermore, Gordon Brown warned the electorate during the 2010 election campaign that immediate and severe budget cuts would cause a double dip recession. He appears to have been proved right - although I accept he hasn't had the opportunity to prove that his plans would have worked.
ReplyDelete@SadButMadLad: "As for the meeting - so it wasn't cancelled on a technicality, but he doesn't deny that only one reporter turned up."
ReplyDeleteOr, more likely, the Sun's reporter was the only one stupid enough to turn up to a press conference that had been cancelled.