Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Nice work if you can get it: MPs hoovering up the freebies
SOLOMON HUGHES takes a look at the Register of MPs’ Interests
Tory Liam Fox (left) and Labour's Liam Byrne

THE pre-Christmas Register of MPs’ Interests shows our representatives have been pretty busy with moonlighting, side hustles and freebies.

Birmingham Labour MP Liam Byrne is a controversial figure. He was a Treasury minister before Labour lost the 2010 election. 

Byrne left a note for his Tory-Lib Dem coalition replacement apologising to them because “I’m afraid there is no money” in the Treasury — it was a cack-handed joke that backfired badly, helping the Tory-led coalition justify punishing austerity measures. 

Labour and water – renationalisation policy down the drain

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Prime Minister Andy Burnham arrives to host his first Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street, London, July 21, 2026
Eyes Left / 22 July 2026
22 July 2026

Can entrenched institutional power be overcome?

The skyline of Canary Wharf in London as the cold snap continues to grip much of the nation, February 14, 2021
Inequality / 14 July 2026
14 July 2026

Trade unions call for windfall tax hike to fund social energy tariff to public’s energy bills

Health Secretary Wes Streeting arriving at number 10 Downing Street, London, for his meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, May 13, 2026
Labour right / 9 July 2026
9 July 2026

Labour’s toxic centrists have wealthy backers but there’s little to suggest they can win over MPs or party members in an open fight, writes SOLOMON HUGHES

Rachel Reeves and Jonathan Reynolds
Features / 8 August 2025
8 August 2025

SOLOMON HUGHES asks whether Labour ‘engaging with decision-makers’ with scandalous records of fleecing the public is really in our interests