Cameron forced into a u turn over moonlighting cabinet members

It appears then that David Cameron has abandoned his attempts to bring the shadow cabinet into line over the issue of moonlighting.

According to the FT this morning

The party leader’s efforts to portray his party as in touch with ordinary voters will not be helped by the scale of shadow ministers’ earnings. Just under half – 15 out of 31 – of the shadow cabinet supplement their £60,000-plus salary as an MP, holding down a total of 23 directorships and 13 other jobs, according to analysis by the Financial Times.

Amongst the biggest earners and no doubt one of those whose voice forced Cameron into his backtrack is William Hague who

this year earned more than £230,000 on top of the undisclosed fees for his two directorships. This included a six-figure sum from after-dinner speaking, where Mr Hague charges a minimum £10,000 a time. Critics – Tories among them – question whether Mr Hague’s five outside jobs and dozen annual speaking engagements leave enough time to hold the government to account.