Beeb's £24,000 hospitality and appearance fees for ten MPs
TEN MPs, including former Cabinet ministers, have received nearly £24,000 in hospitality and appearance fees from the BBC over the last year and a half.
The payments were revealed on the MP's latest register of financial interests, which outlines income received by MPs over and above their regular salary.
Labour MPs are amongst those who have received VIP hospitality and all-inclusive trips to film documentaries for the taxpayer-funded corporation.
Former Home Secretary Alan Johnson, who has made regular TV and radio appearances for the BBC, was paid £12,000 for just 40 hours work.
Meanwhile, Diane Abbot's expenses amounted to £3,278, with the corporation forking out £500 for her appearance on quiz show Pointless, £600 for University Challenge, £500 for Sunday Morning Live in Northern Ireland and associated travel, and two payments of £839 for This Week.
Labour MPs Nia Griffith and Owen Smith were treated to tickets to the hospitality box for the Wales v Ireland Six Nations rugby at Millennium Stadium worth £781 by BBC Wales.
And African-born Labour MP Peter Hain's documentary on the future of South Africa came with a £2,900 bill.
Tory MP Philip Davies also received £1,290 to travel to Florida to make a programme about the death penalty.
Other beneficiaries of the Beeb's spending were Cabinet minister Tessa Jowell, who received £250 for an interview and £500 for an unspecified television appearance at the BBC, and former Home Secretary David Blunkett, who was paid £250 for an appearance on Sunday Morning Live.
Speaking to the Sun Matthew Sinclair, of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said that the spending by the BBC was "hard to justify when budgets are so tight".
A BBC spokesman said: "In general, we do not pay a fee to politicians to appear on BBC programmes to talk about party political matters. If they are making a filmed report or appearing as a presenter they may be offered a modest fee."