Beckett hits out at 'spiteful' critics

Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, yesterday hit out at the "spiteful" criticism of her husband's unofficial role as one of her chief advisers.

Leo Beckett, 79, whom she married 27 years ago, when she was 36, is currently sharing the driving while the couple continue their caravanning holiday in France, chased by a pack of journalists.

He rarely leaves her side for long, and ministerial colleagues said he was likely to fly to New York with Mrs Beckett when she attends the UN Security Council meeting. They are planning to return to their holiday through France when the resolution is passed. Mrs Beckett, 63, said she was indifferent to the attacks on her for being too old, but she was angered by the criticism of her husband for allegedly being paid to accompany her around the globe. "That was quite spiteful," she said. "My husband has been an adviser - from the point of view of the department, unpaid - and very much part of my staff and professional life for 20 years.

"My perception is that every department that I have ever worked in has said what an advantage it was," she told The Observer.

Officially he runs her constituency office and is paid by the taxpayer from Mrs Beckett's parliamentary office cost allowance which amounted to £91,136 last year. "They are very devoted, like Derby and Joan," said one former colleague.