Wes Streeting has been accused of “astonishing hypocrisy” for working outside of work for almost two months after saying MPs should be banned from holding second jobs.
Official documents show that Labour’s shadow health secretary received £27,345 in additional pay for 277 hours of work over the past two years.
His lucrative side hustles include writing a new book and working as a radio presenter and audio narrator.
Based on a typical weekly working time of 37.
5 hours, this means that he spent almost two months on these activities during this period.
Meanwhile he was MP for Ilford North and sat on the Labor frontbench.
Wes Streeting (pictured at the Labor Party conference in Liverpool on Sunday) has been accused of “astonishing hypocrisy” for spending almost two months on second jobs after saying MPs should be banned from taking second jobs
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer and Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting pictured in July this year
Health workers protested outside the Conservative Party conference last week
Mr Streeting, who will give his keynote speech at the Labor Party conference in Liverpool on Wednesday, also undertook a major advertising campaign in conjunction with the publication of his memoirs, One Boy, Two Bills and a Fry Up.
This could benefit him through increasing sales, but would not have been recorded in the official figures published in the MP’s register of interests.
This comes despite Mr Streeting previously saying he thinks “being an MP is more than a full-time job” and that he believes taking on extra work is disrespectful to voters.
Speaking on Times Radio in November 2021, Mr Streeting said: “I think it’s time to just ban MPs from holding second jobs.
“To be honest, I don’t know where people find the time.
“I think that being an MP is more than a full-time job, it is also a huge privilege and we should treat voters with respect by focusing on this job.”
Since then, he has logged 277 hours of paid part-time work, including 15 hours as a radio presenter, 250 hours as an author and 12 hours as a narrator.
This work generated total compensation of £27,345, or an average of £99 per hour.
Mr Streeting, who will give his keynote speech at the Labor Party conference in Liverpool on Wednesday, also undertook a major advertising campaign in conjunction with the publication of his memoirs, One Boy, Two Bills and a Fry Up.
Doctors and medical staff from the British Medical Association (BMA) protest outside Mancheser Library during the Conservative Party’s annual conference last week
A conservative source said: “This is shocking hypocrisy from Wes Streeting.”
“It is this kind of short-term decision making that dominates the Labor Party and shows that streeting is just the same old Labor Party.”
“If he wasn’t so busy with part-time jobs or self-promotion, he might have found time to develop more credible ideas about health.”
This came as Mr Streeting said yesterday that Labor needed to shake off its “rosy, dewy nostalgia” for the NHS so that its failings could be remedied.
Speaking at a conference fringe event yesterday (Tues), he described the service as “terrible in many cases” and warned that historical sentiment could hamper necessary reforms.
Mr Streeting also said that too often the NHS treated those willing to be “pushy” and show “pointy elbows” better than those who simply waited their turn – and said himself rushed to the doctors when he was being treated for cancer.
And he hinted to delegates on Monday that Labor would give in to huge pay demands from junior doctors to end strikes that are crippling the NHS.
At the Labor conference on Tuesday, Professor Philip Banfield (pictured in January), chairman of the British Medical Association, could not rule out further doctors’ strikes in the winter, when the NHS is under greatest pressure
Mr Streeting said he had “much more sympathy” with young doctors demanding a 35 per cent pay rise than with better-paid consultants and would offer them the “pay they deserve”.
At the Labor conference on Tuesday, Professor Philip Banfield, chairman of the British Medical Association, could not rule out further doctors’ strikes in the winter, when the NHS is under greatest pressure.
Meanwhile, NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard called for “serious discussions” between the BMA and the government to prevent further disruption.
She revealed that doctors have been on strike for 720 hours since March – the equivalent of a whole month. A Labor source said Mr Streeting wrote his book while on holiday.