Boris Johnson has been reminded of the time he debated writing a book on Shakespeare in the middle of a global pandemic as the second job scandal intensifies.
The prime minister skipped an emergency Commons debate on sleaze last week as the Tories backed down on attempts to change standards rules to prevent one of their colleagues from being suspended.
According to new analysis more than a quarter of Conservative MPs have second jobs, working for firms whose activists range from private healthcare to gambling – and earning more them more than £4 million in extra earnings a year.
Ninety out of 360 Tories have extra jobs on top of their parliamentary work – compared with three from Labour.
The MPs are overwhelmingly older and 86 per cent are men. The highest earners are all former cabinet ministers.
Looking to get in on the action, Johnson reportedly asked Cummings to advise on the feasibility of him “spending a lot of time writing” his Shakespeare book.
“The fucking divorce,” he allegedly said, “very expensive.”
“And this job. It’s like getting up every morning pulling a 747 down the runway.”
Related: Next time someone complains about climate activists disrupting traffic, show them this picture