There is definitely one thing about Mr. Mandelson he’s is never out of the news, when he is government. Hopefully, it will prove to be a good thing our local businesses and industry.
However, at the moment it appears he is in the news for all the wrong reasons: yet again!
According to the Independent on Sunday: Peter Mandelson will pick up a £1m “golden goodbye” package following his departure from Brussels, despite walking out after serving only four years as Britain’s European Commissioner.
They reckon he will receive a £104,000 salary as a minister in the House of Lords, and qualifies for a total of £234,000 in “transitional payments” over the next three years to help him readjust to life outside the European Commission (or shall we say to normality – for some anyway).
He will also be guaranteed an EU pension when he reaches 65 – in 2018 – starting at £31,000 a year and rising in line with the cost of living. The overall cost of funding such a pension is put at £750,000 (which will note doubt fall on the British tax payers).
It appears that the new Lord is exempt from the Credit Crunch and doesn’t know the meaning of living on the ‘bread line’ because he can also look forward to an additional annual payment of £78,000 for the next three years. I just wonder why he had to seek out Mr. Blair’s advice before accepting the job the other week.
The gold-plated package will help Mr. Mandelson pay off the mortgage on his £2.4m house in Regent’s Park, London. The minister bought the property in 2006, two years into his term in Brussels, with a £750,000 loan – some four times his then salary.
There is no wonder that the minister is coming under a great deal of scrutiny and he hasn’t even taken his seat in the House of Lords. The details of this pay off are already causing disquiet amongst MEPs as well his relationship with Oleg Deripaska: I am sure these affairs will not go away quickly.
A senior Tory member of the MPs’ European Scrutiny Committee, urged Mr. Mandelson to reject the pay-out. He said: “It is not as if he’s lost his job. If he takes this money, it will be a bad example for a government criticising severance payments and City bonuses.”
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