Matt Hancock demands £10,000 per DAY to work as adviser to a fake Korean company in sting by campaign group
MATT Hancock demanded £10,000 per day to work as an adviser to a fake Korean company in a sting by a campaign group.
The former Health Secretary and I’m a Celeb star was duped along with ex-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng into asking fake firm Hanseong Consulting for a six-figure paycheque.
Hancock told undercover activists from the Led By Donkeys group that his daily rate was “10,000 sterling”.
MPs are allowed to take on second jobs, and there is no suggestion that Hancock or any of the other MPs caught up in the sting broke any rules.
It is a fresh embarrassment for Hancock, who revealed that he pocketed an eye-watering £320,000 for starring on I’m a Celeb, on top of a £48,000 serialisation for his pandemic memoirs.
He donated a tiny three per cent of his pay packet from the show to charity, after vowing to support a hospice.
A spokesman for Hancock said: “It’s absurd to bring Mr Hancock into this story through the illegal publication of a private conversation.
“All the video shows is Matt acting completely properly.”
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Kwarteng agreed to work for the same rate, adding that he did not expect to be paid a “king’s ransom”.
The Observer reports that Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers, also told the activists that a daily rate of £6,000 “feels about right”.
Brady, who is standing down at the next election, added that he could not advocate on behalf of the fake firm, and that any payments he received would be listed on the public register of MPs’ interests.
He said: “I made it clear any arrangement would have to be completely transparent and that, whilst an MP, I would only act within the terms of the code of conduct.
“I also made it clear that while I could be flexible in attending international meetings in person, this would be subject to some important votes or commitments in Westminster.”
Ex-minister Stephen Hammond, who was also offered paid work by the fake company, said that he had been the victim of a “scam”.
He said: “It turns out this company was fake, with a fake website.”
Led By Donkeys duped the politicians with a website listing fake credentials and emails asking them to “help our clients navigate the shifting political, regulatory and legislative frameworks” in Westminster and Whitehall.
The MPs were told that they would be required to attend six board meetings a year in return for “very attractive” pay and “generous expenses”.
Activists emailed the fake job offer to 20 Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem MPs, five of whom agreed to be interviewed.
One of the five interviewees, former Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, terminated the call after suspecting a ruse.
A fake female senior executive interviewed the five MPs while sitting in front of a green-screen background showing the skyline of South Korea’s capital Seoul.
Kwarteng told the interviewer that he would not do anything for less than £10,000 a month, and demanded extra compensation for travel to Korea.
He then agreed to work for between £8,000 and £12,000 a day, adding that he had significant experience after serving “briefly as chancellor”.
Kwasi Kwarteng has been contacted for comment.
It comes after leaked WhatsApp messages from December 2020 showed Hancock approve an aide’s threat to withdraw funding for disabled kids – leading furious MPs to demand he be “dragged” before Parliament.