Truss to Claim Hefty Severance Package as UK Taxpayers Estimated to Cover Resignations Worth £700K
British Prime Minister Liz Truss leaves 10 Downing Street 
Liz Truss, who was elected Tory leader in September to replace scandal-mired Boris Johnson, spent a brief 44 days in office, announcing her resignation as Prime Minister on October 20 amid mounting criticism over her government’s unfunded tax-slashing economic plan. Former UK Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, was appointed to take over on October 25.Liz Truss, who quit as UK Prime Minister after her embarrassingly fleeting 44-day sting at Downing Street, will walk off with a hefty severance package of almost £19,000 ($22,024), according to House of Commons library data, cited by UK media. The shortest serving PM in British history is not the only one who will walk off with an allowance burden shouldered by the taxpayer. Throughout the tumultuous political year in the UK which has seen Rishi Sunak, ex-Chancellor, installed as the third new resident of Downing Street, 10, a total of 71 ministers and whips are eligible for the pay. Sunak’s predecessors, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, are entitled to the most generous individual payments under the public duty costs allowance (PDCA), while overall, the cost of ministers leaving office reportedly totals over £700,000 (approximately $811,464) this year.79 cabinet ministers and whips were sacked or quit of their own volition since the start of 2022, with 71 of them potentially eligible for payments of approximately £10,000, irrespective of the duration of their tenure. Under the PDCA, first introduced by the then cabinet secretary, Sir Robin Butler, after the resignation of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister, individuals who hold paid positions in government and the opposition can receive a quarter of their salary when they quit prematurely. However, the law only applies if they do not return to government for three weeks since their departure. For example, Suella Braverman, who resigned as Home Secretary on October 19, is not be eligible for a payment, since she was brought back to the cabinet by new PM Rishi Sunak just six days later.With a record number of reshuffles in the government this year, a large number of people had become eligible for severance payments.
The BackstoryLiz Truss Quits After 45 Days on the Job21 October, 08:14 GMTBack in July, Boris Johnson stood down as PM in the wake of a raft of ethics scandals, from the so-called “partygate” to his handling of sleaze allegations and sexual assault claims against former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher. More than fifty members of his government had resigned at the time, precipitating Johnson’s decision. He was succeeded by Liz Truss after she outpaced her rival, Rishi Sunak, in this summer’s Tory leadership race. Now, both Johnson and Truss are reportedly eligible for individual payments of around £18,860. Truss, whose stay at Downing Street was the shortest of ever PM in UK history, is entitled to £385 per day in office. Incidentally, her former Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, whom she ditched in the wake of fallout from her unfunded tax-cutting plan, is eligible for an allowance of nearly £17,000. Equivalent to £444 for each day he handled the country’s financial affairs, Kwarteng is to get more than double what he would have earned from an official salary if paid pro-rata (£7,023), the cited analysis revealed. With the ups and downs that shook Britain’s political arena this year, overall, 32 MPs could pocket more in severance payments than they earned in office.
WorldRishi Sunak Faces First PMQs After Cabinet Reshuffle Amid Clamor For General Election Yesterday, 06:33 GMTBack in July, questioned about severance payments, then Cabinet Office minister Harriet Wheeler responded by saying:”The severance pay for ministers is established in legislation that was passed by Parliament in 1991 and that has been used by successive administrations over several decades. Reshuffles are a fundamental part of the operation of government.”
