‘Pouring salt on the wound’

Iain Duncan Smith is earning nearly ÂŁ1,250 an hour making speeches on the back of his former post as Tory benefit slasher-in-chief.

The former Work and Pensions Secretary – who infamously declared he could live on ÂŁ53 a week – was paid ÂŁ11,280 for two talks in December.

The amount, which is enough to pay for one person’s Bedroom Tax for 14 years, was paid to Duncan-Smith following speeches at Leicester Tigers Rugby Club and 2Plan Wealth Management in Leeds.

He earned £5,000 for speaking at the rugby club and was paid £6,280 for the 2Plan Wealth Management speech; where he was billed as “Former Secretary of State of Work and Pensions 2010-2016”.

Duncan-Smith spent nine hours preparing the speeches, meaning his average hourly rate was ÂŁ1,253. The sum is on top of his annual ÂŁ75,000 salary as an MP.

“Ian Duncan Smith will be remembered as a cold hearted and hypocritical Work and Pensions Secretary. His savage benefit cuts have unleashed untold misery and suffering for thousands of people,” said head of Unite Community, Liane Groves.

Removed from reality

“For struggling families – many of who have been pushed into penury by a man who is so far removed from reality that he claimed to be able to live on just ÂŁ53 a week – the fact that Duncan-Smith is now raking it in is pouring salt on the wound.”

Duncan-Smith’s speaking circuit engagements were declared in the latest register of MPs’ interests. Since he quit as Work and Pensions Secretary last March, Duncan-Smith has earned £16,780 from giving talks.

The latest MPs’ interest register also revealed that former cabinet minister Michael Gove received £5,000 for an hour long speech to the big business accountancy firm PwC.

Although former Chancellor George Osbourne did not record any extra income on the most recent register, he has earned ÂŁ627,891 from public speaking in the few months since his sacking.

The multi-millionaire, who told austerity hit families that “we’re all in this together”, pocketed £508,069 for 19.5 hours work on after-dinner speeches in the US – a rate of £26,055 an hour.

David Cameron, who quit as an MP shortly after resigning as Prime Minister, is also thought to be adding to his personal fortune on the US speaking circuit. However, since leaving Parliament Cameron no longer needs to declare his financial interests.

“Cameron and his former cabinet chums subjected this country to years of punishing austerity. They plunged Britain into an era where low paid and insecure work, crippled public services and the neglect of the poor and vulnerable has become the norm,” said Unite assistant general secretary, Steve Turner.

“While Cameron has walked away from parliament, other prominent figures from his government have not. But instead of trying to put the mess they made right, they are using their former positions to earn the kind of money people who suffered under their campaign of austerity can only dream of.”