Agree that the matter is probably blown out of proportion when examined objectively, but the timing, the timing....

After all, it's plausible that he could have gone on holiday on his wife's income as a "senior investment counsellor". To those who think that civil servants serve the public, think again - they serve their ministers who are accountable to the public. It may seem a small distinction, but it's a significant one. The ministers are politicians, there by the grace of the public's trust and votes. Civil servants are administrative professionals who happen to be working in the public sector. That is the justification for paying civil servants competitive salaries with those in the private sector because the skill sets are presumably similar - though this argument holds considerably less water to explain why ministers should be paid a high salary since a political career should be seen as distinct from an administrative one.