Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Boris: knocking one off on Sunday morning for alleged £250,000 "chicken feed"

Er.....A weekly article for the Telegraph, that is. From the BBC's Hard Talk:

It's chicken feed. I think that frankly there's absolutely no reason at all why I should not knock off an article as a way of relaxation. I write anyway, I happen to write extremely fast. I don't see why on a Sunday morning I shouldn't knock off an article - if someone wants to pay me for that article then that's their lookout and of course I make a substantial donation to charity.

Just while you're trying to stop your head spinning (understanding any outburst from Boris is a bit like having one's head stuck inside a washing machine while it's on fast spin) let me point out that the "chicken feed" he refers to is the alleged £250,000 a year he receives for his Telegraph articles on top of the, presumably "half chicken feed", £140,000 mayoral salary he gets.

I find this all very depressing. It is very tiresome indeed that the Mayor of London reckons that a quarter of a million pounds - more than ten times the UK average salary - is "chicken feed" and is, furthermore, happy to declare that to the public.

It is hard to decide what attitude brings forward such a statement. Is it the "I'm an arrogant toff with loads of dosh but at least I am honest and open about it and people love me don't they? - or at least they love my lovely hair don't they?" attitude?

Or is it the "I really don't know what I am saying: I just open my mouth and all sorts of nonsense falls out. I really couldn't care if anyone objects to it, because we've got the next few elections sewn up anyway" attitude?

Or...are there any other attitudes that could be behind this? I am genuinely anxious to find out.

Could it be the "look, of course it is lots of money, but if I call it 'chicken feed' people earning £20,000 a year won't start thinking I am a pompous arrogant twit because they will believe that it doesn't mean a lot to me and therefore they shouldn't worry about it" attitude? (Sorry that one is rather obscure, but I am hauling a whole variety of foreign objects up the flagpost here so stick with me and let's see if any of them get saluted). That is, the "Keep calm and carry on - nothing to see here attitude but oops it doesn't quite work but who gives a monkeys? - I certainly don't, I am not going to run for a second term and there's a cabinet job with my name on it and I've got the Camster by the short and wotsits" attitude?

I think we should be told. But we may never know.

No comments:

Post a Comment