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| Labour ex-ministers enjoy £5m pension bonanza |
LABOUR ministers quit with £5 MILLION in their pension pots after being booted out of power.
The taxpayer-funded nest egg is on top of £20,000 they each received in "golden goodbyes".
Yet most have stayed on as MPs and continue to draw their £65,000 salary.
The lavish pensions will infuriate millions of public sector workers who face having their own retirement benefits slashed to cut the deficit.
Former Chancellor Alistair Darling is among the biggest winners with a pot worth £443,000. With his MPs’ pension added, he stands to rake in £57,000 a year when he retires.
Ex-Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, who has £380,000 in her ministerial fund, is in line for nearly £53,000 a year.
Gordon Brown waived his right to the traditional platinum-plated ex-prime minister’s pension worth HALF his salary.
Exact details of the size of his pot are not included in accounts published by Whitehall this week.
But he is still expected to receive about £30,000 from the ministerial fund and £32,500 from the Commons scheme.
Fiona McEvoy, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: "These enormous pay- outs strike a stark contrast to the fairly meagre amounts most taxpayers can expect to receive.
"Generous pensions and vast lump sums are sure to keep these former cabinet ministers insulated from the economic reality they’ve left behind them."
The 24 ex-Cabinet ministers listed have pension funds worth a total of £3.88 million. But with other top MPs whose details have not yet been disclosed, they could be worth at least another £1million.
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