All in the Family
The latest edition of Private Eye has a feature piece - on 'The New Boys and Girls at the Westminster Parliament'.
So step forward this week Michael McCann MP - the Labour MP for East Kilbride, Lesmahgow and Strathaven.
Michael is a former deputy leader of South Lanarkshire Council - and managed to carry out his senior council duties - while working in the office of his predecessor - the former Labour MP Adam Ingram.
Private Eye goes on to have a bit of fun at Michael's expense.
For example, by highlighting his 'feud' with the East Kilbride News - which has run a series of articles about McCann's position on South Lanarkshire Council's planning committee - and his relationship with a well-known property developer, James Kean.
Private Eye goes on to say:
"Before the general election Gordon Brown warned Labour candidates it was no acceptable 'to take on two jobs', but after the election last May it took McCann until mid-September to resign his post at South Lanarkshire Council, during which time he collected around £5,500 from the local authority to top us his parliamentary salary of £65,738."
"There's also the small matter of his constituency office secretary. 'In the last parliament MPs were rightly criticised for hiring members of their family who didn't do any work', he says on his website. 'I have hired my wife Tracy because I know she will work hard and do a great job. She has a massive amount of experience in both the public ansd private sector and is great with the public and she is the only person I know who will type letters at half-past ten at night'. Nice work if the happy couple can get it."
But the thing is Michael's predecessor - Adam Ingram MP - did the same with his wife, Maureen - which of course had the effect of boosting the annual public income in the Ingram household to @ £100,000 a year.
Now that's what I call a coincidence.
So step forward this week Michael McCann MP - the Labour MP for East Kilbride, Lesmahgow and Strathaven.
Michael is a former deputy leader of South Lanarkshire Council - and managed to carry out his senior council duties - while working in the office of his predecessor - the former Labour MP Adam Ingram.
Private Eye goes on to have a bit of fun at Michael's expense.
For example, by highlighting his 'feud' with the East Kilbride News - which has run a series of articles about McCann's position on South Lanarkshire Council's planning committee - and his relationship with a well-known property developer, James Kean.
Private Eye goes on to say:
"Before the general election Gordon Brown warned Labour candidates it was no acceptable 'to take on two jobs', but after the election last May it took McCann until mid-September to resign his post at South Lanarkshire Council, during which time he collected around £5,500 from the local authority to top us his parliamentary salary of £65,738."
"There's also the small matter of his constituency office secretary. 'In the last parliament MPs were rightly criticised for hiring members of their family who didn't do any work', he says on his website. 'I have hired my wife Tracy because I know she will work hard and do a great job. She has a massive amount of experience in both the public ansd private sector and is great with the public and she is the only person I know who will type letters at half-past ten at night'. Nice work if the happy couple can get it."
But the thing is Michael's predecessor - Adam Ingram MP - did the same with his wife, Maureen - which of course had the effect of boosting the annual public income in the Ingram household to @ £100,000 a year.
Now that's what I call a coincidence.
