Thursday, February 11, 2010

Tory MP Andrew Mackay walks straight into a job with a six figure salary with lobby firm and told 'stick close to the Cameron Team'



















Dear All

One of the comments I made about Tory MPs leaving in disgrace was at some point you would see them pop back up in another job soon enough.

Andrew MacKay was a former adviser to David Cameron.

He has been asked to pay back tens of thousands of pounds by Sir Thomas Legg and so has his wife Julie Kirkbride for the disgraceful and immoral way they claimed taxpayers’ money as expenses.

Both as MPs were entitled to second home allowances so they each designated their other homes so the two of them could both claim the second home allowance enabling them to stay in both houses with little or no cost to themselves.

Andrew Mackay tried to justify such behaviour at a Tory meeting and was met with a hostile crowd who he said had been supportive, the tape proved otherwise.

Both he and his wife are standing down at the General Election.

Mackay has now a public affairs company as a “strategic adviser” to the lobbying firm Burson-Marsteller.

The chief executive of BursonMarsteller is Matt Carter, who was Labour’s general secretary during the cash-for-honours affair, as I said in the Singh post, there isn’t much difference between Tories and Labour.

Mackay’s appointment is all about connections, the firm say that;

“means that we are uniquely placed to advise clients whatever the make-up of the new government after the election”.

Not what you know but who you know that opens doors.

And Mackay was a senior advisor to David Cameron.

Once the press latched on to the story, the firm announced the appointment;

“in the interests of transparency and so there can be perceived to be no conflict of interest in his current role as an MP”.

Andrew Mackay is one of the worst abusers of the expenses scandal and quite seamlessly he walks straight into another job.

Presumably Burson-Marsteller don’t think such behaviour matters!

So, he loses £65k a year plus expenses and walks into a six figure salary job.

According to an insider;

“He’s been told to keep close to the Cameron team.”

Further evidence if it was ever needed of how corrupt Britain is that someone like MacKay should still be allowed to operate behind the scenes with his former Tory colleagues as if nothing has ever happened.

If you wait long enough, then expect to see Andrew Mackay’s wife, Julie Kirkbride also attain a high paying position at some future date.

For most of the morally corrupt presented to us by the expenses scandal, they are getting moved out of the spotlight to take up positions backstage but don’t for one minute think they will be losing out.

Andrew Mackay faces the fifth- largest repayment bill after the audit of expenses by Sir Thomas Legg.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

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