Lib Dem peer apologises for furloughing himself and promises to pay money back

Lord Fox was accused of ‘milking the taxpayer at both ends’ by claiming both the furlough subsidy and daily Lords’ allowance

A Liberal Democrat peer criticised for furloughing himself to get a government subsidy while continuing to claim a daily allowance from the House of Lords has apologised and promised to pay the money back.

Lord Fox admitted placing himself on leave so he could receive a subsidised income as the director of his own communications company via the coronavirus job retention scheme.

The 62-year-old Lib Dem spokesman for business was accused by MPs of “milking” the state by claiming around £1,000 a month from the Treasury and taking the £162 daily allowance for his work in the Lords.

However, after the details came to light on Wednesday evening, the peer said he recognised he had made a mistake and pledged to give the fulough money back to the government.

Lord Fox told The Independent: “I recognise my error in judgement and I apologise. I have already begun to repay the money I received as part of the furlough scheme and intend to repay the full amount as soon as possible.”

Former Conservative party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith was among those criticising his use of the scheme, saying it was “a bit rum, furloughing yourself while being a legislator”.

Tory MP Robert Halfon said the peer had appeared “to want to milk the taxpayer at both ends”.

The latest accounts filed with Companies House show Lord Fox’s business has more than £100,000 in net assets, but the peer initially told The Telegraph he was entitled to use the furlough scheme.

According to the newspaper, the peer had received at least one monthly payment of around £1,000 under the scheme.

Asked if he was being “greedy” by claiming two incomes from the taxpayer, Lord Fox said: “I don’t think conflating the two is even logical. It’s what many companies are doing, which is furloughing their employees.”

The frontbench peer added: “If HMRC had thought it was ineligible for me to have applied for that, then they would have said so.”

Lord Fox reportedly owns a five-bedroom house in Windsor estimated to be worth up to £1.89m, and owns a second home in east London.

The peer – who sits on the Lords’ economic affairs committee – recently told a committee hearing his company had “invoked” the job retention scheme. However, he did not reveal at the time he had placed himself on furlough.