Two members of the British Parliament, Kwasi Kwarteng, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Matt Hancock, former Minister of Health, offered to work for a fake Korean company, set up by a group of activists, for £10,000 a day, which means real change. about 11,000 euros, according to an investigation revealed this Sunday.
Despite the fact that in principle the offer of the false company would not violate the legislation, the group Led by Donkeys (“Directed by donkeys”) wanted to highlight the frequent incompatibilities in their interests of which British legislators are accused. Kwarteng and Hancock replied that their fee for traveling to South Korea to participate in meetings of the alleged Hanseong Consulting company would be £10,000 a day.
There are also conservatives involved
Two other Conservative deputies, Graham Brady -leader of the parliamentary group- and Stephen Hammond, also agreed to work for the false company, although in the case of the former for an amount of 6,000 pounds a day, or what is the same about 6,800 euros.
Led by Donkeys sent a total of 20 emails to members of the House of Commons, both “Tories” and opposition Labor and Liberal Democrats: 12 did not respond, two declined, another expressed interest and then hurt him, and others five agreed to an exploratory interview.
In the video call with an alleged executive of the company -distributed by the group on social networks-, Kwarteng needs to charge 10,000 pounds a day after the woman indicated that normally the rates used will vary between 8,000 and 12,000 pounds.
Criticism of his fiscal plan
Kwarteng came under heavy criticism in the five weeks he headed Economy in Liz Truss’s Executive, from September to October 2022, after his plan to cut taxes unleashed a financial storm that plunged the pound. Similarly, Hancock, who was reduced after violating the rules of social distance in an affair with a co-worker revealed by the press, replied that his fee would be 10,000 pounds when asked by the alleged person responsible.
In recent months, the debate has intensified about the parallel jobs that deputies carry out outside their legislative activity, something that the Labor Party plans to lead if it wins the next elections. The British media that collect today the controversy with Hancock and Kwarteng.
A Hancock spokesman said that “the failed attempt to catch” the deputy shows that he acted “within the letter and the spirit of the law”, and argued that it is “completely expected” that he thinks about his future, since he plans to leave his seat in the next elections. On his side, Brady said he made it clear in his interview that any deal should be “transparent” and that he would only agree to something that fell within the Code of Conduct for parliamentarians.
