FOREIGN & COMMONWEALTH OFFICE - LONDON - 2

FOREIGN & COMMONWEALTH OFFICE - LONDON - 2

Courtesy: Jazz Break [Music]

Current Foreign Secretary: William HAGUE [He has 3 (three) Special Advisers - all other Ministers have only 2 (two) Special Advisers]

Political blogger "Guido FAWKES", a pseudonym for TRANSPARENCY campaigner Paul STAINES, has submitted a Freedom of Information ("FoI") Request demanding details of Mr MYERS's Terms of Employment.

It asks: 'Has Mr MYERS been on any international trips with the Foreign Secretary? How much is Mr MYERS being paid? Could you please provide a detailed job description?'

Foreign Secretary William Hague is facing fresh questions over his decision to appoint a 3rd (third) Special Adviser in contravention of rules set down by David Cameron.

The former Tory leader has been asked to justify his decision to put his one-time constituency aide Chris MYERS on the public payroll.

The 25-year-old has been drafted in as a Foreign Office adviser, despite promises by ministers to slash spending.

Privately-educated Mr MYERS's appointment were revealed after pictures emerged of him walking very casually with 49-year-old Mr Hague in Westminster last year.

Mr Hague was widely mocked for wearing dark glasses and a baseball cap, the item of clothing which damaged his reputation with voters during his leadership of the Tory party.

The appointment is controversial, in part, because Mr Cameron has limited most ministers to just 2 (two) Special Advisers to keep costs down.

And while Tories say Durham University graduate Mr MYERS is a valuable adviser on international affairs, he became close to Mr Hague as a member of the so-called 'Tyke mafia' around the MP for Richmond in North Yorkshire.

He has landed the post at the heart of one of the great departments of state despite never having previously worked in the upper echelons of the Conservative Party.
Mr Hague already has two highly regarded special advisers - Arminka HELIC and Denzil DAVIDSON.
Another adviser, Chloe DALTON, has been drafted into his private office, but is employed as a civil servant.

Because Mr MYERS was appointed relatively recently his salary has not yet been disclosed.

Other special advisers' salaries were published shortly after the election.

Chevening, also known as Chevening House, is a country house in the parish of Chevening, Kent, in England. It is an OFFICIAL RESIDENCE of the FOREIGN SECRETARY.

Chevening has a history dating back around 800 years, but the house we see today is almost entirely the creation of seven generations of the Stanhope family, building on the original Lennard family's house of around 1630.

For 250 years the Stanhopes served their country as soldiers and statesmen, and at Chevening as patrons of architecture and art. When the family line ran out, the 7th Earl's gift of Chevening to the nation ensured that the history of the family and the estate was preserved for future generations.

The house has become the country residence of a Cabinet Minister and thus continues to play its part in the political life of the nation.

The Estate consists of some 3,000 acres stretching between Sevenoaks and Biggin Hill in Kent. The gardens include a lake, maze, parterre and a double hexagonal walled kitchen garden amounting in all to some 40 acres. Over 530 acres of mixed woodland surround the extensive park.

FRIENDS
Let's see who the next list of friends are elevated to the 'House of Lords' by the same people who criticised Blair for his 'Tony's Cronies'! This chamber of "Friends of a Friend" should be scrapped. The sooner the better!

CON-DEM Coalition
"We're all in this together" [says David Cameron]
'Dave' [Cameron] must be ' laughing his socks off ' at the gullibility of so many of the voters...

Category:

Education

Tags:

• FOREIGN
• COMMONWEALTH
• OFFICE