ANDREW PIERCE: Is Lord Dave counting the cost of his new role?

New Foreign Secretary David Cameron is no longer entitled to claim the Public Duty Costs Allowance available to former prime ministers.

It is meant to help fund ‘necessary office costs and secretarial costs arising from their special position in ‘public life’.

The annual allowance is £115,000 — and in the past four years Cameron has drawn £440,000, while his successor Theresa May has taken almost half that (£280,000) in the same period. Meanwhile, Liz Truss, Prime Minister for a mere 49 days, has claimed £23,310 since she left office a year ago.

Though I’m sure Cameron won’t feel the loss too keenly.

Alongside a generous new salary of £104,000 and a huge civil service secretariat at his disposal, Cameron will enjoy a range of other perks including a chauffeur-driven government car and specialist police protection officers.

New Foreign Secretary David Cameron is no longer entitled to claim the Public Duty Costs Allowance available to former prime ministers

Lord Cameron has been given the keys to the magnificent Grade I-listed Chevening, a 115-room mansion on a 3,000-acre Kent estate

Not forgetting that the Eton-educated ex-PM — who earned a reputed £7 million lobbying for the now-collapsed financial services firm Greensill — has also been given the keys to the magnificent Grade I-listed Chevening, a 115-room mansion on a 3,000-acre Kent estate.

The Inigo Jones-designed house boasts a tennis court, a lake, a maze, a landscaped garden and a clutch of staff to wait on Cameron and his guests.

There will probably be enough room for him to relocate that £25,000 shepherd’s hut from his bolthole near Chipping Norton.

Profits to Bragg about 

Anti-capitalist singer Billy Bragg shared a picture of the merchandise stall at his Birmingham show promising ‘loads of lovely signed CDs and albums for sale plus T-shirts and T-towels’. 

The Jeremy Corbyn-backing Billy Bragg is flogging a £120 CD-set and £15 travel mugs

The Jeremy Corbyn-backing Leftie is flogging a £120 CD-set and £15 travel mugs. A model of small business enterprise, his former bete-noire Maggie Thatcher might have said. 

Aitken gives Cam his blessing 

Jonathan Aitken, former Tory Cabinet minister but now a chaplain after a spell in jail for perjury, backs Cameron’s return. Aitken was a junior speechwriter at the time of Ted Heath’s 1970-74 government. ‘Sir Alec Douglas-Home (PM 1963-64) was recalled by Heath to serve as a foreign secretary… I admired his charm, his integrity, his long experience, and his sure diplomatic touch in difficult foreign capitals,’ he said. ‘David Cameron will surely bring many of the same qualities to his new role.’

Understatement of the week

Trade minister Greg Hands, asked why he was sacked as Tory Party chairman in last month’s Cabinet reshuffle, said: ‘It’s not easy being chairman of the party when you are a little bit behind in the polls.’

Gregg Hands said: ‘It’s not easy being chairman of the party when you are a little bit behind in the polls’

A little bit? The Tories are 20 points behind Labour.

Cameron’s return has prompted jokes on the Tory backbenches. One told me: ‘Good to see Rishi Sunak has revived his green agenda. He is recycling clapped-out former prime ministers.’ 

In his maiden speech in the House of Lords last week, Cameron said he had been sent a ‘charming welcome’ note by Lord Mandelson but that the former Labour Cabinet minister had dubbed him a ‘mere comeback novice’. 

Cameron said he had been sent a ‘charming welcome’ note by Lord Mandelson but that the former Labour Cabinet minister had dubbed him a ‘mere comeback novice’

Cameron quipped: ‘To make three comebacks you need both his prodigious talents and you need to be sacked twice by the PM, which is a fate I’m hoping to avoid.’ 

Donald Trump is marketing his own range of ‘luxury’ polyester pyjamas embroidered with the Trump logo — yours for just $130, down from $175. 

The Trump store website boasts: ‘You will never want to wear any other loungewear after experiencing the luxurious comfort and understated elegance of these pyjamas.’ 

No word yet on whether presidential hopeful Trump has sent a set to the man he labelled ‘Sleepy Joe’ Biden. 

Home Office figures released last week show that 115 of its encrypted smartphones and 69 of its laptops went missing in the past year — costing the taxpayer £97,000. 

No wonder new Home Secretary James Cleverly wants greater police powers to retrieve stolen phones from thieves. 

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