Osborne in trouble over speech payments
Monday, 07 Jul 2008 10:58
Mr Osborne says the event was a question and answer session
Shadow chancellor George Osborne is facing calls to return money he accepted in return for a speech to the Jersey branch of the Institute of Directors (IoD).
Conservative guidelines allow the front bench to accept payment for speeches as long as the subject matter does not relate to ministerial work.
Mr Osborne listed the speech, for which he was paid somewhere between £5,000 and £10,000 - in the register of members' interests but described it as a question and answer session
"I registered it in the proper way," he told the BBC's Sunday AM.
"It is not against Conservative rules, it is not against parliamentary rules because I properly registered it."
But that view has been challenged by Andrew Neil, who acted as chairman during the questions and answer session. He told the Telegraph newspaper "almost all" the questions concerned "tax and spend and policies for business".
"I was under the impression that Osborne was not being paid at all," he added.
John Mann, a Labour MP, has accused Mr Osborne of profiting from his front bench position and called on him to return the money.