‘Shocking’: Labour condemns Liz Truss paying chief of staff through lobbying firm
Liz Truss is paying a lobbying company for the services of her chief of staff, the government has admitted, triggering Labour condemnation.
In an unprecedented arrangement for such a senior aide, Mark Fullbrook receives his salary as a contractor through the firm, Fullbrook Strategies, he set up in April – rather than as an employee.
Previous holders of the key No 10 role have been treated like any other special adviser by being appointed on a temporary civil service contract and paid a salary that is made public.
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, called the admission “shocking”, saying it “raises serious questions about the new prime minister’s judgement”.
The set-up has been revealed days after Friday’s mini-Budget scrapped the so-called IR35 rule that was designed to stop people paying themselves via a company to avoid tax.
Mr Fullbrook is already facing questions over his interview by the FBI in connection with an alleged criminal conspiracy to bribe a US politician and influence an election in Puerto Rico.
He has denied any knowledge of the bribe, saying he is “confident” he did not break the law and is cooperating with US law enforcement as a witness.
The Cabinet Office admitted Mr Fullbrook is being paid through his lobbying company, after revelations in The Sunday Times, saying: “This has been cleared by the propriety and ethics team in Cabinet Office.”
Ms Rayner said: “The fact that this bombshell comes days after alarming reports that Mr Fullbrook is also embroiled in a foreign bribery probe involving the FBI will only add to public concern.”
She said Labour would “clean up public life” by setting up an independent ethics and integrity commission – in contrast to the prime minister “allowing another wave of Tory sleaze to fester”.
Daisy Cooper, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “Liz Truss’s administration is proving to be nothing more than the same as Boris Johnson’s, miring itself in sleaze, not even a month into the job.
“We need to see an urgent independent investigation into any conflicts of interest – anything less than this risks looking like an admittance of wrongdoing.”
Fullbrook Strategies announced it had “suspended” its commercial activities this month after its founder was appointed as the prime minister’s top aide.
Before that, transparency data showed it contacted the government on behalf of clients including a Libyan group opposed by the West and the UN and a PPE firm linked to a fundamentalist Christian sect, The Sunday Times reported.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “It is not unusual for a special adviser or civil servant to join government on secondment.
“The government will pay the salary of an employee on secondment, including costs such as employer’s national insurance contributions to the seconding company.”
