Beth Rigby Interviews: Labour’s top second jobs earner David Lammy says he’ll ‘live with’ any potential ban on outside income
Labour’s top second jobs earner David Lammy has conceded if MPs are banned from having outside earnings “I will have to live with that”.
The shadow foreign secretary has come under scrutiny this year after Sky News’ Westminster Accounts project revealed he tops his party’s list with additional earnings of £243,800 since this parliament started in 2019.
He is in the top 15% of earners of all MPs, and has the highest number of second jobs, with £99,300 coming from his regular radio show on LBC and the rest coming from speaking engagements, books and consultancy work.
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The Tottenham MP has come under fire for all his extra earnings but told Sky News’ Beth Rigby Interviews programme he agreed with Sir Keir Starmer saying second jobs need to be reviewed.
“I think the Labour Party is right to say that we need to fix this problem,” he said.
“It will be one of those issues that parliament is going to have to determine.”
Mr Lammy added that he would have to accept it if Labour did block second jobs after Sir Keir in January backed a ban, with some exceptions.
But, Mr Lammy defended his extra work as he said he needed to pay for his office staff.
“If parliament determines that – no second jobs at all – we can’t have people who are doctors – can’t have people who are lawyers – one job only, being an MP – then I will have to live with that like everybody else,” he said.
“The truth is, when you’re in opposition and you’re wanting to do a job like being shadow foreign secretary and your party’s just lost an election, there is no money in the coffers.
“You do try and raise money to help employ people so that you can properly do your job.”
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Starmer defends Lammy’s £200,000 jobs
Mr Lammy added not all of his earnings go towards paying for staff and he does take some for himself but said that is allowed and is common practice among MPs.
“Some of that money goes towards paying for the things so I can do my job as best as I can,” he said.
“Those are the sorts of decisions that you make. As I’ve said, MPs have done speeches and things, corporate speeches, after-dinner speeches for years and years and years and years.
“There are lots of Conservative colleagues doing it. There are other Labour MPs that have done it.
“If people determine that they don’t want to see that, then that will come to an end and it won’t happen.”
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Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab on Wednesday took aim at Mr Lammy for his second earnings after the issue was raised at Prime Minister’s Questions.
“I notice the benches on this side [Labour] are curiously quiet. Is that because there’s 10 shadow cabinet members on their benches who are taking earnings?” Mr Raab said.
“In particular the shadow foreign secretary looks like he certainly doesn’t want to be under the limelight.”
David Lammy spoke to Beth Rigby about second jobs and Jeremy Corbyn
‘Decision to block friend Corbyn was right’
Mr Lammy also spoke to Beth Rigby about former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn being blocked from standing for the party at the next election in the seat he has held for 40 years.
The shadow foreign secretary previously apologised for nominating Mr Corbyn to be Labour leader in 2015 after the MP was suspended from the party for denying the party had an antisemitism problem.
Read more:
Middlemen, brokers and clients – who really pays MPs for their other jobs?
MPs’ second jobs – what are the rules?
Mr Lammy said in 2021 he “never believed” Mr Corbyn would become leader and nominating him was “a mistake”.
Before that, he regularly praised Mr Corbyn, who he considered a friend and had asked to launch his election campaign in Tottenham in 2015.
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‘But Corbyn is your friend, isn’t he?’
Jeremy Corbyn has been blocked from standing as a Labour MP
But he put his personal friendship with the former Labour leader aside and admitted it was the right decision to block Mr Corbyn from running for Labour at the next election.
“It’s not about friendship,” Mr Lammy said.
“These are bigger issues. Representing Tottenham, I represent – partly – the Stamford Hill area of London, which has a very strong, long standing Jewish community. So the issue goes to that one.
“No one ever said that politics sometimes hasn’t got to be brutal.
“It was an important decision, I think, for both Keir Starmer to take when he took over the Labour Party to be absolutely clear that we would get rid of that antisemitism, and for the NEC to take.”
Countries in South and Southeast Asia have been coping with a weeks-long heatwave which has seen record temperatures sweep parts of the region.
Pupils in the Philippines, India and Bangladesh have been told to stay at home and learn remotely due to a severe health risk.
Schools in Cambodia have also cut back on their hours.
Cambodia faces its hottest temperature in 170 years, according to meteorologists – as high as 43C (109F).
Bangkok in Thailand has reached 40C (104 F), but the heat index is said to have topped 50 C (122 F) due to the heat being trapped among the mass of buildings.
The United Nations Children’s Fund warned in April that the heat could put the lives of millions of children at risk and asked people who care for them to take extra precautions.
A spokesperson for UNICEF said around 243 million children were exposed to hotter and longer heatwaves.
A woman drinks from a public tap in India. Pic: AP
They said the increased heat was “putting them at risk of a multitude of heat-related illnesses, and even death”.
Thirty people in Thailand have died from heatstroke in the past month, according to data from the country’s health ministry.
People are being advised to avoid outdoor activities and to stay hydrated.
Several towns in Myanmar were included on lists of the hottest spots globally last month, with temperatures reaching 48.2C (118F) in at least one case.
People stock up on water in India. Pic: AP
Parts of eastern India also experienced their hottest April on record.
Kerala, on India’s west coast, this week instructed all schools and colleges to close until Monday, while influencers in Bangladesh have encouraging people to plant trees in response to the record heat.
Benjamin Horton, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, said there were three factors for heatwaves: a naturally-occurring climate phenomenon known as El Nino, an increase in global temperatures, and human-induced climate change.
Read more:
London must adapt to ‘new reality’ of extreme heat
Scotland ditches ‘out of reach’ climate change target
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Brazil is currently experiencing another climate phenomenon – La Nina – with 39 dead and 68 missing in floods across the country.
More than 24,000 people have been forced to leave their homes due to the flooding.
Scientists believe the naturally-occurring phenomenon has intensified due to the impact of climate change.
China has been branded “a bully” and an international lawbreaker after its ships blasted Philippine vessels with water cannon in the South China Sea.
Sky News was on board the BRP Bagacay when a Chinese vessel fired water at it, causing significant damage.
Philippine coastguard spokesman Jay Tarriela told Sky News that this week’s confrontation was the first time China had used “such aggression” against their ships.
“The metal parts and the railing were bent. The canopy was also destroyed. So this came as a surprise for us that China never hesitated to use brute force,” he said.
“It completely justifies us calling The People’s Republic of China a bully country.”
Jay Tarriela, a spokesman for the Philippine Coastguard, told Sky News that China is a ‘bully’
The Philippine coastguard was on a resupply mission to the Scarborough Shoal to deliver food and fuel to Philippine fishermen when they were struck.
The submerged reef lies in disputed waters. China claims sovereignty over the reef but it is much closer to the Philippines and lies within its legally recognised exclusive economic zone.
The vessel Sky News was on board was the closest the coastguard had ever been to the shoal – just 600 metres away from it.
Asked if the mission to the shoal was a provocative move by the Philippine coastguard, Commodore Tarriela denied they were “poking the bear” but rather “driving the bear out of our own territory”.
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Sky witnesses China-Philippine confrontation
The Philippines has been stepping up its patrols in the area under the instruction of President Bongbong Marcos, and reasserting its claim to the shoal in recent months.
It has raised the spectre of open conflict. While neither side currently wants that, there is now a greater threat of open conflict.
Asked what the end game was for the Philippines, Commodore Tarriela said their priority was to “tell the world” about China’s aggression.
China’s coastguard fired water at Philippine coastguard vessel BRP Bagacay while Sky was onboard
He said their secondary goal was to ensure “like-minded states” also made China “fall in line and respect international law”.
“Otherwise, it’s everybody’s loss,” he added.
Read more:
US accuses Beijing of ‘bullying’ in South China Sea
China building airstrip on disputed island, satellite images suggest
Philippine government policy is not to resist using water cannon against Chinese vessels – and Commodore Tarriela insisted that policy remains in place after the confrontation.
The government also remains intensely determined to protect the waters it believes it has every right to operate in.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
“We’re not going to yield and we’re not going to surrender a square inch of our territory,” Commodore Tarriela insisted.
Beijing has called the action its own coastguard took as “necessary”.
Speaking at the Chinese foreign ministry’s daily news conference, spokesperson Lin Jian described the coastguard’s conduct as “professional, proper, and lawful”.
World
Three charged over killing of Sikh separatist leader in Canada – in incident which sparked diplomatic spat with India
Three suspects have been charged by Canadian police over the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in Vancouver last June, in an incident that sparked a diplomatic spat between Ottawa and New Delhi.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was shot dead outside a temple by masked gunmen in Surrey, outside Vancouver, on 18 June 2023.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police assistant commissioner David Teboul said police could not comment on the nature of the evidence or the motive.
“This matter is very much under active investigation,” Teboul said.
The three suspects – Indian nationals Kamalpreet Singh, Karan Brar and Karampreet Singh – were arrested in Edmonton, Alberta, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.
Superintendent Mandeep Mooker said: “This investigation does not end here. We are aware that others may have played a role in this homicide and we remain dedicated to finding and arresting each one of these individuals.”
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Canada killing ‘linked’ to India govt
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sparked a diplomatic feud with India when he said in September that there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the killing. India angrily denied involvement.
Mr Nijjar, an Indian-born citizen of Canada, was a leader in what remains of the Khalistan movement – a once-strong group calling for the creation of an independent Sikh homeland.
He was organising an unofficial referendum in India for an independent Sikh nation at the time of this death and had denied allegations of ties to terrorism.
The Khalistan movement has lost much of its power but is still supported by some in the Punjab state in northwestern India and in the Sikh diaspora overseas.
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A violent, decade-long Sikh insurgency shook north India in the 1970s and 1980s, and was ultimately crushed in a government crackdown which saw thousands of people killed, including prominent Sikh leaders.
In June 1984, Indian forces stormed the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh shrine in Amritsar, where separatists had taken refuge.
In more recent years, the Indian government has repeatedly warned that Sikh separatists were trying to make a comeback.
Read more: What is the Khalistan movement?
Mr Trudeau’s accusation angered India PM Narendra Modi. File pic: AP
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The diplomatic row saw diplomats expelled by both India and Canada.
The Indian government said it “completely rejected” Mr Trudeau’s allegations and added: “We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law.”
The dispute derailed trade talks between the two countries and ultimately saw Canada withdraw 41 of its 62 diplomats in India.
At the time, Canada did not provide public evidence to back up Mr Trudeau’s allegations. However, it did reveal the claims were based on intelligence provided by a major ally and surveillance of Indian diplomats in the country.
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