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Amanda Goodall should not be so gullible as to believe the myth that the prime minister's salary is lower than that of many vice-chancellors. I commend to her the interim report of Will Hutton's Review of Fair Pay in the Public Sector, published in December 2010.

Although the prime minister's salary is ?142,500, that is only a part of his income: Hutton reports an estimate that the total may be as much as ?581,000.

However, even this level of income in office pales beside the fees earned by former prime ministers from public speaking. Tony Blair is reported to be the highest-paid public speaker in the world, and Gordon Brown, hardly charismatic, is doing very nicely now that he's no longer in No 10, reportedly seeking ?64,000 for some speaking engagements.

Adrian Buckley, Assistant director of human resources, University of Birmingham.