Norfolk MP says he stepped down as a minister because he couldn't afford rising mortgage costs
His salary was near £120,000 as a minister
Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman says he resigned as science minister because he couldn't afford to pay his mortgage.
In a blog post, he says he stood down back in November because his mortgage payments jumped from £800 to £2000 a month, and he could no longer afford them on his near £120,000 ministerial salary.
He explained his decision more in his blog, writing: "We’re in danger of making politics something only Hedge Funder Donors, young spin doctors and failed trade unionists can afford to do.
"Government is a cruel mistress. Modern Politics is a savage playground.
"To be the UK Minister for Science and able to drive and deliver some key reforms has been the privilege of my life. (After the birth of my dear children who have paid a very high price).
"The day after I handed in my red box and said goodbye and thank you with tears in my eyes to my brilliant civil servants, my diary went white.
"I suddenly had c.70hrs a week I didn’t have before."
Now off the Government Front Bench, Freeman says he has "the greatest freedom of all - to speak and write and talk openly."
No longer a minister, the MP's able to take on often lucrative second jobs (if approved by the anti-corruption watchdog), on top of his MP’s salary of £86,584.
Downing Street said it had 'no plans to change its approach to ministerial pay'.