David Cameron's security team have reason to smile

Figures from Scotland Yard show that a sergeant who guards the Prime Minister earned almost £100,000 last year.



At the end of a peculiarly bruising week for David Cameron, he could be forgiven for looking at some of the people around him and wondering if they would be willing to trade places.
It is unlikely, however, that any of his close protection officers would be minded to agree. Mandrake has obtained figures from Scotland Yard which show that a sergeant in the unit which guards the Prime Minister, and other senior politicians, earned £97,000 last year. One of his lower ranked Pc colleagues pulled in nearly £94,000, inflated by an astonishing £50,000 overtime.
By contrast, a hard working junior minister can aspire to a mere £89,435. Cameron himself doesn’t earn all that much more than his highest paid protection officer with his prime ministerial salary of £142,500.
The substantial packages suggest that the Met’s efforts to trim its massive overtime bill have not been entirely successful. A spokesman for the force insists, however, that it takes value for money and efficiency “very seriously”.
He adds: “Overtime is called upon when it is vital to maintain operational effectiveness. The few officers receiving significant payments in respect of overtime are mainly in undercover or protection roles. In such areas, working time is determined by the circumstances.
“We have, and continue to focus on reducing overtime costs and have provided more effective support to management in monitoring overtime.”
Cameron may well ruefully recall how no member of his close protection team had noticed, when he had been out to a pub not far from Chequers last year, that his daughter Nancy, then eight, had inadvertently been left behind as his cars had driven away.
The PM scarcely won himself many new voters when he decided not to block a proposed increase in MPs’ pay last month.