Labour MP Chuka Umunna announced on Monday 15 October he would be chairing a new centrist thinktank dubbed the Progressive Centre UK.
For the majority of people living in 21st-century Britain, Umunna’s claim that centrism is “back” is a bit of a joke.
But the salary the MP for Streatham will pocket for his new side job is no laughing matter.
Cha-ching!
On finalising plans for the UK’s latest ‘progressive’ thinktank, Umunna disclosed his new pay cheque in the register of members’ interests.
And the figure is stomach-churning:
https://twitter.com/BuzzFeedUK/status/1052867941396606976
According to the MP for Streatham, he is set to take home a massive £5,420 a month for his chair duties. That makes £65,000 a year. And that’s on top of his MP salary of £77,379.
As former spokesperson for Jeremy Corbyn Matt Zarb-Cousin pointed out, it adds up to more than Theresa May’s base salary of £150,402:
Earning more than the prime minister https://t.co/zuHjixkjrZ
— Matt Zarb-Cousin (@mattzarb) October 18, 2018
Flogging the dead horse of centrism with yet another Tory-lite thinktank (surely the Tony Blair Institute has it covered)? A bit of a joke.
Getting paid a whopping £65,000 a year for it? Priceless.
Working hard or hardly working
But for prominent figures on the left, the real joke wasn’t just the round figure of Umunna’s salary.
Apparently the MP will get double the average wage in the UK – for just 12 hours of work a month. That means Umunna will literally be making £451 an hour:
Incredible. Chuka Umunna to pocket £65,000 a year to chair this new "centrist" think tank, for doing 12 hours per month work. Time to ban our MPs – public servants who are there to serve their constituents – from doing lucrative second jobs. https://t.co/0cCt2Pkbyo
— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) October 18, 2018
https://twitter.com/MikeSegalov/status/1052871533792776192
As far as Tory-lite speaking fees go (at one point, Tony Blair was on £10,000 a minute), there’s room for improvement.
But still… props to Chuka!
Twitter outbreak
And the Twitter reaction to Umunna’s showcase of peak centrism was predictably hilarious:
— anon ymous (@therapywimpy) October 18, 2018
https://twitter.com/MatthewPWoods/status/1052872979007320064
Chuka Umunna getting thoroughly outsized recognition for very little work while being completely out of touch is *kisses fingers* so on-brand https://t.co/c5b7eGsjLE
— Danielle Blake (@abradacabla) October 18, 2018
But amidst the current climate of crippling austerity, child poverty and mass inequality, the news also provoked genuine anger:
https://twitter.com/Jahill2018/status/1052873396734832641
https://twitter.com/BelvinLaray/status/1052876640668258304
and here's me thinking he was working flat out to scupper Brexit………..how can a Labour MP pocket 65,000 for 12 hours a month and look his constituents in the eye when talking about the division between the haves and the have nots
— Barrie Waller (@barrie_waller) October 18, 2018
Chuka divides
For many on the left, the MP for Streatham represents the worst side of the Labour Party.
It’s not just that he constantly criticises socialism and in turn, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Or the fact that he calls his own party “institutionally racist” while pandering to nationalist sentiments at the same time. Or even that he (allegedly) didn’t pay his interns.
Umunna provokes so much outrage because he shamelessly promotes an economic system that ruins people’s lives. Whether he does this because he’s a genuine believer in neoliberal centrism, or because he’s just protecting his own interests, is anyone’s guess.
But the fact that he’s getting over £65,000 a year for just 12 hours work a month tells you a lot.
And its no laughing matter.
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Featured image via BBC Newsnight
