Former UK PM Liz Truss Can Get Up To RM600,000 Yearly Despite Only Serving 6 Weeks
Truss qualifies for the allowance despite having served as prime minister for the shortest period of time in UK history.
By Sabrina Zainal — 25 Oct 2022, 01:58 PM
Although Liz Truss' brief, six-week tenure as UK prime minister has come to an end, she will still be eligible to receive the yearly GBP115,000 (RM605,000) allowance set aside for past leaders
The Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA), according to the UK government, provides all former prime ministers with an annual allowance meant to reimburse them for costs incurred while performing their official duties.
Truss qualifies for the allowance despite having served as prime minister for the shortest period of time in the history of the country because all you need to be is a former prime minister.
According to The Guardian, she will receive the yearly allowance for life.
The allowance is meant to cover any office or secretarial costs necessary for a former prime minister's "special position in public life"
All living former prime ministers have claimed six-figure expenses from the PDCA, including Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, and John Major, who have each received over GBP110,000 (RM579,000) each.
However, since this year's data has not yet been released, it is not known whether Boris Johnson has claimed the allowance, reported BBC.
The guideline, however, does not specify how long one must serve as premier before being eligible for the special fund.
A former prime minister can even be paid the allowance even if they continue serving in Parliament.
On top of that, the fund also allows former premiers to collect up to 10% of the amount in order to pay for the pensions of employees who work in their post-prime ministerial offices.
Following Truss' resignation, many quarters are demanding she decline the allowance considering her brief stint in Downing Street
The BBC reported Keir Starmer, Labour party leader and leader of the Opposition, as saying that Truss has "not earned the right" to the entitlement.
Speaking to the UK's national broadcaster, he said, "She shouldn't take that entitlement. After 44 days, she has not earned the right to that entitlement, she should turn it down."
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey also slammed the idea of Truss pocketing the money.
"Most people have to work at least 35 years to get a full state pension," he told UK radio station LBC.
"I think working 45 days shouldn't give you a pension that is many, many times what ordinary people out there get after a lifetime of work."
Truss announced her resignation last Thursday, 20 October, after 44 days in office during which she lost the support of Tory members of parliament (MPs), as well as the public, while overseeing economic turbulence.
She said that she was unable to fulfil the promises made when she ran for office and that she would step down once her successor was chosen.
