Tory ministers urged to hand back ‘farcical’ redundancy payments

Newly re-appointed Conservative ministers are facing calls to forego their redundancy payments following Rishi Sunak’s reshuffle.Recent Tory turmoil means several sacked ministers – now back in government – are able to claim hefty pay-outs at the taxpayers’ expense.The Liberal Democrats described the arrangement a ‘farce’ and called on ministers to return their ‘revolving door bonus’ to help struggling families with the cost of living.Dominic Raab, sacked by Liz Truss but reappointed as justice secretary and deputy PM, would be eligible to receive £16,876 despite only being out of a job for seven weeks.Steve Barclay, made health secretary by Mr Sunak after being sacked in September, would also be entitled to the same ministerial redundancy pay-out.It is not clear whether home secretary Suella Braverman will accept her redundancy payout after she was reappointed only six days after she was sacked by Ms Truss over a security breach.Those departing from government are entitled to 25 per cent of the annual salaries they were paid for holding ministerial office.Calling for government payments to reappointed ministers to be stopped, Lib Dems’ Cabinet Office spokesperson Christine Jardine said: ‘What staggering unfairness, for the ministers who got us into this financial mess to be rewarded with taxpayers’ cash.’She said: ‘It beggars belief that while families are struggling to pay their bills, many retiring Conservative ministers are set to receive thousands of pounds, some of them after just a few weeks in the job.”Perhaps most egregious of all is the revolving door bonus for ministers who got a payout just months ago and have now already been reappointed. It is a complete farce,’ Ms Jardine added.Labour and the Lib Dems have both called for Ms Truss to turn down the annual allowance of up to £115,000 a year she is entitled to as a former prime minister after spending only six chaotic weeks on office.Sir Keir Starmer has said the ex-PM is ‘not really entitled to it, she should turn it down and not take it’, saying it would be ‘the right thing to do’.Meanwhile, Mr Sunak is facing calls for an official inquiry into Ms Braverman after she was brough back to lead the Home Office less than a week after she was sacked for a security breach.Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats raised ‘national security’ concerns and demanded a Cabinet Office investigation on Wednesday after the new prime minister handed her a top role.Cabinet secretary Simon Case, the nation’s most senior civil servant, is reportedly ‘livid’ over her swift return and ‘very concerned’ about the breach.Ms Truss forced Ms Braverman out after she breached the ministerial code by sending an official government document to a Tory backbencher from a personal email.Ms Braverman admitted she made a ‘mistake’ which she described as a ‘technical infringement’ of the rules.But questions remain about why she sent the document to fellow right-wing MP Sir John Hayes and how she accidentally copied in an aide to another MP, who sounded the alarm.Foreign secretary James Cleverly said Ms Braverman has apologised for the ‘mistake’ as he defended her reinstatement.’The prime minister has taken her apology and he has decided that what he wants is an experienced home secretary that has got recent – very, very recent – experience at the Home Office,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.