Why do people talk about the Brussels gravy train? It is more like the caviar and champagne express – particularly with its pensions. First we hear that Eurocrats Neil and Glenys Kinnock have between them six pension pots, several courtesy of Brussels. They are also thought to be getting a whopping £400,000 tax break on top of that. Oh, and from now on UK members of the European parliament will be able to hoover up far better pensions than Westminster MPs.

Lord and Lady Kinnock’s pension pots are worth about £4m, according to John Ralfe, an independent pensions expert. The icing on the cake is that, like anyone, they can take 25 per cent as a tax-free lump sum when they retire, saving them about £400,000 in tax. Lord and Lady Kinnock may have taken advantage of the rules already: you can take a tax-free lump sum when you start drawing a pension. They are said to have started taking several of theirs.