George Osborne’s new job as Evening Standard editor will be scrutinised by parliament watchdog the Committee on Standards in Public Life
George Osborne's surprise new job as editor of London newspaper the Evening Standard will be scrutinised by MPs.
The Committee on Standards in Public Life, the watchdog which holds those in public life to account, will officially review the appointment in light of the former chancellor remaining an MP for Tatton, the Sunday Times reports.
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The shock announcement on Friday has triggered a rethink on the rules on second jobs for MPs, said the committee's chairman Lord Bew.
“We have not ruled out MPs having second jobs, quite deliberately, up until now, but we now have to look again at our rules. We are going to discuss whether our rules on second jobs need to be changed in light of this. We had something that up to a degree worked. It now seems to be getting into rockier waters," he told the newspaper, adding that it was not personal to Osborne, but "raises the issue of how much time MPs have to devote to their parliamentary work".
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The committee will meet on Thursday to discuss the matter.
Osborne, who also holds a part-time position advising BlackRock among other jobs on top of being an MP, is also waiting for the green light from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) which approves the jobs taken within two years of a minister leaving office.