Allowance Former PMs say they use subsidy for public duties

Three former prime ministers have said they do not use a taxpayer subsidy for their private office for any commercial work after the Guardian revealed that Boris Johnson appears to have done so.

- Rob Evans Henry Dyer

One of them, Gordon Brown, said that rules should now be changed to require former prime ministers to publicly declare their business interests. He said there should be a crackdown on the jobs taken by former ministers.

Brown, Tony Blair and Liz Truss all said they had only claimed for reimbursements related solely to their public duties.

There are mounting questions over whether Johnson has been misusing his portion of the £5.2m in public funds that has been paid out since 2015 as part of a scheme to support former prime ministers.

Leaked files from the Office of Boris Johnson, a limited company, show his private office staff helped him to exploit contacts made in No 10 to secure business deals. Cross-party senior politicians have called for Johnson's taxpayer support to be suspended in the wake of the revelations.

Johnson's private office receives funding from the public duty costs allowance (PDCA), which is afforded to all prime ministers to assist with their public duties after leaving Downing Street. PDCA funds are not supposed to be used for private or commercial activities.