Former U.K. Conservative energy minister, Charles Hendry, who signed a bilateral agreement to bring power harnessed in Iceland to Britain via undersea cable, will now be paid GBP 18,000 (ISK 3.3 million, USD 28,000, EUR 21,000) a year to advise the Atlantic Supergrid Corporation, The Guardian reports.
Archive photo: Páll Stefánsson/Iceland Review.
Hendry served as energy minister from May 2010 to September 2012, and in May 2012 he signed the agreement about cooperating on energy issues with the Icelandic government.
Hendry’s new position raises questions as to whether a former minister should be able to profit from a job so closely related to an agreement made while in government, and whether a Conservative donor is getting a potential commercial advantage through his position, The Guardian writes.
Hendry responded that importing energy from Iceland is a long-term project that could prove beneficial for the U.K. in the future. “If it can help deliver secure, affordable low-carbon electricity to U.K. consumers, it is something which is in the national interest,” he stated.
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