A Very Naughty Boy (2)

A sharp-eyed reader has been in touch to point out that the £30,000 payment - one of two that got Labour MP Jack Dromey into trouble recently - looks remarkably like a redundancy payment.

See post from yesterday dated 21 January 2012 - 'A Very Naughty Boy'. 

Because £30,000 is of course the upper limit on any tax free amount - paid to someone as part of their redundancy package.

So the figure is familiar - very familiar - to anyone used to dealing with the termination of employment contracts.

But in this case I can't see how it could possible be a redundancy payment - because as far as I know Jack Dromey's post as deputy general secretary of Unite - was replaced.

In which case Jack couldn't have been made redundant - unless of course his employer (Unite) moved the chairs around a bit and decided to declare the post redundant - which some unscrupulous employers do from time to time - it has to be said.

But I can't believe that Unite would get up to such tricks - because the main purpose of such a move would be to avoid paying tax - and feather someone's nest.

So it doesn't seem at all likely to me.

Yet there is a nagging voice in my head that says:

'Why would the union give £30,000 to someone - just because they worked with the organisation a long time?' 

I imagine the foot-soldiers don't get anything like that - maybe a little leaving party, a nice present paid for by a whip round amongst the staff - and whatever they're entitled to by way of a pension and other benefits.

But £30,000?

Seems like one hell of a lot of the members' money to be giving away to me - maybe some upstanding members within Unite - will ask the union bosses for a detailed  explanation.