Move over Nicola Sturgeon, there’s a new sheriff in town. The former SNP leader has faced criticism this week, after it emerged that her government splurged just under £10,000 on VIP airport services for her and her staff – despite foreign affairs being a reserved power.
When it comes to taking the mickey out of taxpayers though, it’s clear that the Germans really are doing it better. According to Freedom of Information requests submitted by the Tagesspiegel newspaper, German taxpayers have had to fork out €55,000 on former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s hair and make-up since she left office in 2021. In this year alone, Merkel has already managed to rack up a €17,200 bill, and spent €37,000 in 2022 – reportedly on a self-employed hair and makeup artist who works as a fashion designer in Berlin. Whatever happened to the good old short back and sides?
Apparently the expenses cover both public and private events, with the German Chancellery telling Tagesspiegel that, ‘The assumption of costs is linked to the performance of continuing official duties — regardless of whether they are public or non-public’.
Other German officials have gotten in on the act, with the current Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s office spending €21,808 on hair and makeup this year – quite impressive for a politician who is not exactly hirsute.
Britain is not immune to former premiers living off the largesse of the state, unfortunately. Under the current rules, any former Prime Minister can claim up to £115,000 a year for expenses incurred while fulfilling public duties associated with being a former PM. Which considering the way we’re getting through prime ministers right now (five in the last eight years) means that the country is racking up a healthy bill – over half a million in 2020-2021.
Given the fact that David Cameron once gave his hairdresser an MBE, perhaps it’s only time before we start shelling out for haircuts too…
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