Liz Truss is eligible for taxpayer-funded allowance of $129,000 a year for life

Liz Truss, the departing British prime miner, is eligible for a taxpayer-funded allowance capped at 115,000 pounds ($129,000) a year for the rest of her life.
Despite her short time in office, Truss became eligible Thursday for what’s called the Public Duty Costs Allowance — a government reimbursement plan for staff and salary costs incurred former prime miners “arising from their special position in public life” after they leave office, according to the government’s website.
This has drawn scorn, however, from some of Truss’ political opponents, who have called for her to be refused the payment because of what they see as her role in Britain’s political and economic turmoil.

“There is no way that she should be permitted to access the same 115,000 pounds a year for life fund as her recent predecessors — all of whom served for well over two years,” Chrine Jardine, the spokesperson for the Cabinet Office of the Liberal Democrats, said in a statement.
“Truss’ legacy is an economic disaster — for which the Conservatives are making taxpayers foot the bill,” Jardine said, adding that the potential payout would leave “a bitter taste in the mouth of the millions of people struggling with spiralling bills and eye-watering mortgage rate rises thanks to the Conservatives’ economic mismanagement.”

“I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected the Conservative Party”
UK Prime Miner Liz Truss resignshttps://t.co/O5kO1WJ4tY pic.twitter.com/Gq6FtOGNIP
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) October 20, 2022
The money has been a standard payout since it was introduced in 1991, in the wake of Prime Miner Margaret Thatcher’s resignation. Truss would became the sixth former British prime miner to receive the lifelong allowance — if she accepts it.
Truss’ office could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday night.
Two former British prime miners, John Major and Tony Blair, continue to receive the maximum yearly amount of 115,000 pounds, according to the most recent financial report published Britain’s Cabinet Office.
The Sunday Times reported in 2018 that Blair had so far received 1 million pounds from the pot. Former Prime Miner Boris Johnson is also eligible for the allowance, but the amount he has received, if any, since resigning in July has not been made public.

British Prime Miner Liz Truss resigns just 44 days after taking office, making her the shortest-lived premier in UK hory#AFPGraphics looks at how Truss’s longevity stacks up against other British prime miners since the start of the 20th century pic.twitter.com/VJgxYdO8oR
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) October 21, 2022
Truss is also entitled to money to cover the pension costs of her staff. That can be up to 10% of the $129,000 allowance — meaning she could receive an additional $12,900 per year (based on the current exchange rate).
There are rules undergirding the allowance. It is not intended to finance former prime miners’ private lives, according to guidance published the Cabinet Office. The allowance cannot be claimed “in advance of need.” And former prime miners cannot draw the money while serving as leader of Britain’s main opposition party. (Truss would still be eligible if the Conservative Party were to lose in Britain’s next general election and become the country’s main opposition party, since she is stepping down as party leader.)
The guidance also stipulates that if Truss were to accept any other public appointment, the level of the allowance would be reviewed.