Now that Boris has announced plans to restrict MPs’ second job hours to “within reasonable limits“, it looks like the government still hasn’t figured out what those limits are. Speaking on the media round this morning, Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan gave three different answers to the question of how many hours per week an MP could reasonably expect to work at their second job – all within the space of an hour. Classic broadcast round clock-up…

First on Times Radio, Trevelyan claimed it was acceptable to spend “8-10 hours” a week on other work. That number then jumped to “10-15 hours” when she appeared on BBC Breakfast. By the time Trevelyan appeared on the Today programme, the figure had somehow climbed all the way up to “10-20 hours“. It’s worth pointing out that Geoffrey Cox currently works 41 hours a month on his extra-curricular work, so according to Trevelyan, he’d actually be able to double his outside earnings before hitting this floated limit…