MPs have come under fire for raking in cash from second jobs that earn some politicians an extra £1.6m a yea on top of their £82,000 salary.
Discussion about the rules continued this week as it emerged former Attorney General Geoffrey Cox earned more than £1 million for 22 hours a week of legal work in the last year.
Sir Geoffrey cast proxy votes in Parliament from the British Virgin Islands while giving legal advice to its government in a corruption inquiry.
It follows the controversy surrounding Owen Paterson, who was found to be repeatedly using his position as an MP to promote two companies that paid him a combined £112,000 a year.
The former Environment Secretary breached four separate parts of the MPs’ code of conduct and brought the House of Commons “into disrepute”, the Commons Standards Committee found.
Mr Paterson has since "stepped aside" from his roles advising private firms, just hours after he quit as an MP.
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The Mirror recently analysed the Commons register of financial interests to discover some politicians were making up to £1.6 million on top of their salary - which starts at £81,932.
Former Prime Minister Theresa May was on top of the Tory rich list - getting paid a staggering £115,000 to speak to a women's forum founded by the Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum despite ongoing international concern about the UAE's human rights record.
She also charged around £45,000 for speeches delivered on Zoom during the pandemic.
Despite the backlash, Boris Johnson says he "doesn't back an outright ban on second jobs".
Downing Street said MPs "primary job" should be serving their constituents and those who are not visible in their seat are “not doing their job”.
But No10 refused to say if the PM - who was paid £275,000 a year by the Telegraph while an MP - would speak to Sir Geoffrey or back any rule changes.
