IMPORTANT news just in concerning our hard working bureaucrats in Brussels: The latest edition of the Official Journal reveals that the top pay levels for EU civil servants has risen again, to 537,296 Belgian francs (£10,000) a month.

The lowest salary offered an EU official with an "A" level post, which requires a university degree, is now £2,648 a month. Secretaries can now earn between £1,067 and £2,859 each month.

On top of all this, the Eurocrats receive extensive extra payments and expenses, their favourite being the "expatriate allowance".