Exclusive
PARTRIDGE IN A PAY FREEZE
Millionaire comic Steve Coogan blasted after he furloughs gardener and housekeeper at £4million estate
The wealthy comic, 54, has left the taxpayer to stump up 80 per cent of the pair’s wages.
⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
5
They worked full-time at leftie Coogan’s estate in the South before the Covid crisis.
But earlier this year leftie Coogan, worth around £10million, boasted how he didn’t “get anything for free,” claiming: “I pay for everything.”
His two staff work full-time at his £4million home in southern England, which boasts a swimming pool and tennis court.
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said last night: “The furlough scheme is to protect businesses that are suspended and can’t operate during the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’d be difficult to see how Steve Coogan’s earning potential has been diminished. The grass is still growing in his back garden and his house still needs cleaning.”
He added of Jeremy Corbyn fan Coogan: “He’s certainly a Conservative voter now.”
5
5
A source said the pair did not live there and it was deemed impossible to keep working.
They said: “The workers are gutted they can’t make it in because of the coronavirus situation. It was established it wouldn’t be possible to continue working with the social distancing measures in place.
“So Coogan took advantage of the furlough scheme while they’re unable to come in.”
But last week new government guidance stated in-house workers such as cleaners and gardeners should go back to work. It said they must social distance where possible.
Coogan played a billionaire fashion mogul in 2019 film Greed, but this year claimed he was nothing like him.
He boasted: “I pay for everything,” and took a pop at other actors, claiming: “I don’t get anything for free.”
Coogan’s actions are within the law, though he joins some of Britain’s richest men and women in claiming government aid.
Victoria Beckham was forced into a U-turn after furloughing her fashion firm staff despite a £355million family empire.
MOST READ IN NEWS
TaxPayers’ Alliance chief executive John O’Connell said: “Support should only be sought if it’s really needed.”
Coogan did not comment on furloughing his staff.
But he said: “This non-story has more to do with my legal actions against the publishers of The Sun and campaign for press reform than anything else.”
The Sun says
HOW richly ironic that Steve Coogan’s latest movie is called Greed. We didn’t realise it was autobiographical.
How does a man worth £10million defend sponging off taxpayers to fund the bulk of his laid-off housekeeper and gardener’s salaries? Especially a man so very keen to judge the morality of others?
It’s not illegal. But the Government furlough system was set up as a fallback to keep people in jobs, not to protect the wealth of multi-millionaires or billionaires by paying their staff for them.
Many families who can afford cleaners have dug deep to keep them solvent during this crisis. They have not demanded the public bail them out.
Coogan could pay his staff in full without denting even a fraction of the interest on his riches. Instead he chose to make taxpayers do it. That’s greed, all right. As for the comic’s risible claim that “I don’t get anything for free”, it’s not true now, is it?
It is equally repugnant that Foxtons magnate Jon Hunt has kept his £1.4billion dry by getting the public to pay his 25 furloughed country club workers.
At least Victoria Beckham changed her mind after belatedly realising from the public outcry how wrong it was for a woman as rich as she is to make a claim.
The UK faces a recession of unprecedented scale, with millions unemployed and the Treasury’s depleted coffers struggling to keep us afloat.
Let us never forget those mega-rich celebrity hypocrites who abused the State’s generosity during the Covid crisis and brought ordinary people’s ruin even closer.
5
5
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS - STAY IN THE KNOW
Don't miss the latest news and figures - and essential advice for you and your family.
To receive The Sun's Coronavirus newsletter in your inbox every tea time, .
To follow us on Facebook, simply .
Get Britain's best-selling newspaper delivered to your smartphone or tablet each day - .
Piers Morgan slams Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan as 'entitled millionaires' after Tory landslide in General Election
- GOT a story? Ring The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or email [email protected].
Topics