Gordon McBroon trousers £60,000 for 50-minute speech about the economic crisis

Former British prime minister Gordon Brown gave his first paid speech since leaving Downing Street yesterday, earning an estimated £60,000. Mr Brown – who has barely been seen in public since he stepped down as Prime Minister in May – was a keynote speaker at a summit in New Delhi, the Indian capital.

He gave a 50-minute speech on the global economic crisis and how to prevent another one, which is estimated to have earned him around £1,200 per minute. A source said: ‘He is getting paid the usual price the leadership summit pays for a foreign speaker – £60,000.’ Mr Brown is following in the footsteps of Tony Blair, who commands fees of up to £200,000 for speaking engagements.



Critics of Mr Brown have questioned if he was the right person to lecture Indians on how to prevent a future economic crisis since he could not prevent the worst recession in a generation in the UK. Tory MP David Davies said: ‘Perhaps he should explain to the Indians that they should not spend far more than they earn.

‘Under him, the Government was spending on average £30 billion more each year than we earned in taxes. I think it will be a case of do as I say but don’t as I do.’ In August it was reported that Mr Brown had joined a London-based speakers’ bureau, agreeing to give after-dinner speeches for £64,000 per event.