September 22, 2005

Former first minister of Scotland Henry McLeish has solved the dilemma of Iiving on an ex-prime ministerial pension of ?40,000 a year (after less than 12 months in the job) by signing on as a ?700-a-day consultant at the PR firm of his former political rival, Ray Robertson.

Hardline right-winger Robertson's Halogen communications firm provides "reputation management" to clients including Sainsbury's Bank and William Hill, Bookmakers.

McLeish quit the top job in Scotland after the public relations disaster that was the scandal over sub-lets at his constituency office.

Another former supposed Labour man who already has his nose in the Halogen trough is journalist Tim Luckhurst. Rentaquote Luckhurst has previously described McLeish as "a cynical machine-politician who compensates for his apparent lack of talent by nurturing ambitions for which he is unsuitable". So there'll be no tension in the Halogen office then...