"Actually, I think even Miriam has a sneaky regard for them....

... whereas I of course despise the place, absolutely... we Lib Dems prefer "traditional" sources of funding and not from City Spivs. Not of course that they are all spivs... some are thoroughly decent upstanding donors, I mean people."

Electoral Commission report of August 2012:

The Liberal Democrats' largest donation was £250,000 from Brompton Capital Limited, a property development company owned by entrepreneur Rumi Verjee, who last year dined with party leader Nick Clegg at his grace and favour residence Chevening, in Kent. The largest individual donor was Lib Dem peer Lord Loomba, who gave £100,000.

The Guardian, February 2013:

Nick Clegg: Labour and Tories 'bewitched by Square Mile'

But actually despite what you might read into that headline (completely unintentionally of course, the G doesn't do misleading headlines after all!), he isn't launching an attack on the place or its morals, no not at all.

Emailed in by Bob E.

Ah, but is she really the 'main bread winner'?

A nice bit of regulatory capture featured in The Daily Mail:

Miriam Gonzalez has landed a top job as an EU trade chief in a move set to infuriate euro rebels, while the Coalition battles it out over the country's relationship with Brussels.

The wife of Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is risking accusations of conflict of interest by taking a job with U.S. law firm Dechert, heading up the firm’s EU trade and EU government affairs practice.

Miss Gonzalez, a high-flying Spanish-born lawyer who has kept her maiden name, is already the main breadwinner in her family's household, earning an estimated £500,000 a year as a head of International Trade Law at DLA Piper.

Sure, he pays himself "only" £200,000-odd a year for being an MP and Deputy PM, and on paper she gets twice that, but how much would she be paid if she weren't the wife of the Deputy PM?

British corruption is all very genteel, of course these large corporations wouldn't dare pay a politician £500,000 a year while he's still in office. They normally make these payments after the politician concerned has lost or left office*, or they just declare his wife to be a "high-flying lawyer" and do it that way.

* See e.g. William Hague earning hundreds of thousands a year from giving lectures after he got chucked out as leader of the Tory party, despite being one of the dullest men alive, or Tony Blair being paid two million quid a year to advise JP Morgan, despite him knowing nothing about banking or finance.