Disbelief

George Osborne has recently come under severe criticism in the national press, both from the leftwing Guardian and the right-wing Daily Mail for earning £650,000 a year from BlackRock asset management, on top of the £800,000 he earned for 15 speeches in the USA, some of which caused him to miss parliamentary votes.

He also receives a £120,000 annual stipend from a US Republican think-tank. He has also found time to write a book for which he has received an estimated £100,000 advance. While I admire hard work and enterprise in anyone, he does all the above while continuing to take his £75,000 salary as our MP.

Then it was announced that Mr Osborne has so much time on his hands that he has now been appointed editor of the London Evening Standard.

I always thought that the editorship of a major newspaper was itself a full-time job, but apparently not.

With one day a week reserved for BlackRock, Mr Osborne will only have four days a week left for The Standard. And he insists that he will also continue as Tatton’s MP.

You couldn’t make it up.

Geoff Holman Leycester Road