Current Affairs 2023

[Mervyn and Trish]

I don't think a temporary break in our system of government is practical or would achieve anything. There's been corruption in politics for hundreds of years.

But I do agree that being an MP should be a full time 9-5 job, with no more than 6 weeks hols a year. No jobs on the side allowed and no silly late night sittings.

[towny44]

I don't think a temporary break in our system of government is practical or would achieve anything. There's been corruption in politics for hundreds of years.

But I do agree that being an MP should be a full time 9-5 job, with no more than 6 weeks hols a year. No jobs on the side allowed and no silly late night sittings.

You would lose a large number of MPs if that was brought in, and mainly backbenchers who dont enjoy a ministerial job, or being members of various committees.
To remedy this you would need a major uplift in MPs salaries, and I am not talking about a few percent, I am thinking basic MPs salaries would need to be 2 or 3 times higher than at present, which I suspect would be very unpopular with the general public.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Really? They already get a salary most can only dream about. £84,144 basic. Plus generous expenses. I think there would be plenty of candidates.

[towny44]

Really? They already get a salary most can only dream about. £84,144 basic. Plus generous expenses. I think there would be plenty of candidates.

Maybe professional politicians, but they will mainly be on the left wing, you're not going to get many businessmen to give up a millionaires salary and live on even a PMs salary, and have to suffer the sort of abuse given to politicians.

[Onelife]

Absolutely Sir Merv…I see political careers such as being an MP fall into the same ‘vocational’ categories as Doctors, Nurses, Police and Firemen, they all want to give of themselves to the service of others. I see no distinction between these jobs and that of MP’s who serve their constituencies. Yes’, the professions I have mentioned do have career progress but very few will attain the type of wage that politicians give themselves.

(I personally don’t think many politicians have the skill sets to fill ministerial roles in the first place, but that is for another day).

With every new Prime Minister comes the promise of change, a change that is doomed to failure when the change they are seeking is controlled by the corrupt and unproductive practices that abound in our present political system. Imo.

[Stephen]

£84000. I’d suffer the abuse.

[Onelife]

£84000. I’d suffer the abuse.

Which reminds me, are you still going to the same place that charges £100 per session?

[Mervyn and Trish]

£84000. I’d suffer the abuse.

Let's face it you already get the abuse on here so yeah grab the money.

[Onelife]

£84000. I’d suffer the abuse.

Let's face it you already get the abuse on here so yeah grab the money.

I agree, if you enjoy a good thrashing ( Stephen does) £84,000 comes in a lot cheaper than £100 twice a day sessions

[Ray B]

I had good news this week, having had to fill in a self assessment tax return since not needing the accountant to do it (and saving c£500) a nice letter from HMRC tells me this year 21/22 will be the last year to submit one. The form is long and boring, Will not be missed.

[Ray B]

I think if the lad enjoys being a masochist and bondage then I don't get bothered if he is enjoying it.

[david63]

On the subject of MPs pay whilst £84k may sound a lot you have to take other factors into account.

Firstly there is no job security as you can be out of the job at a moments notice and unless you have had a senior ministerial position then there may not be many other jobs of an equivalent salary that are open to you.

Compared to most "professions" an MP's pay is not that exceptional - for example a GP £90+k, hospital consultant £100+k, company CEO £100+k, union leader £80+k. The point is that if you want people with experience and life and business skills then they need the remuneration for doing the job.

The problem comes when you have somebody with a minimum skill set who sees the pay of an MP as a "nice little earner". Now of course we need a diverse demographic as MPs but I don't know of any other profession where you can walk in tomorrow with no experience and be paid £84k. Perhaps MP's pay should be the same as any other profession where there is a pay scale and you move up the scale based on a combination of years in the job and job responsibility - say starting at around the UK average of £35k progressing to something well over £100k.

Also what is stupid with the system is that you can have somebody who prior to becoming an MP was working as, say a motor mechanic (nothing wrong with that), and give them the job of running the NHS. Ministers should have some experience of the area they are in charge of, or at least have some training in that sphere before starting the job.

[Stephen]

£84000. I’d suffer the abuse.

Which reminds me, are you still going to the same place that charges £100 per session?

The one you recommended. No

Very down market. Full of aristocrats and government ministers.

[oldbluefox]

The one you recommended. No

Very down market. Full of aristocrats and government ministers.

....and the occasional spare prince.

[barney]

The ability of MPs is generally very over rated.
For example, our local MP, whom I know quite well is a very nice and hardworking person, but certainly doesn’t come across as anything special.
Her history is as a primary teacher and local politics.
To the best of my knowledge, she has no business experience whatsoever.
She’s always been employed by the authorities.
I have no complaints about her at all but, as I said, she’s hardly a high flyer.
There are dozens who could do her job as an MP.

[Bensham33]

Pay MPs more then we might actually get some talent in Parliament.

[Gill W]

And the corruption never ends

Richard Sharp helps Johnson obtain a £800k loan, then a few weeks later Johnson recommends Sharp for the role of BBC Chairman.

This is reported by The Times, but is behind a paywall

Johnson has promptly gone to Kyiv again, no doubt to avoid questions and hope the headlines die down.

I'm sure his constituents must be delighted with the amount of time Johnson spends on local interests (said with heavy irony)

[Mervyn and Trish]

I'd go for a progressive pay scale as suggested by David and add a generous redundancy scheme to ease the problem of what happens when they lose the seat.

I'd also build or buy an apartment block convenient to Westminster and provide all MPs whose constituencies were too far away to commute with a 1, 2 or 2 bedroom furnished apartment depending on family circumstances. It would be free including utility bills paid and have phone and Internet. Also security. But it would be strictly on the basis this is a second home for business purposes. Any MP who preferred to treat it as their first home and sell or rent out their previous home would be expected to contribute. Should end the various dodges of recent years round accommodation expenses.

[Stephen]

No doubt they’d still find a fiddle or three.

[Mervyn and Trish]

They could form a Chamber Trio.

[oldbluefox]

I always thought the accommodation at the Olympic Park would have been usefully employed as accommodation for visiting MPs. There was already an inbuilt security which could easily have been adapted for the politician's purposes. Seems like an opportunity lost.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Brilliant idea. Legacy use.

[Onelife]

I always thought the accommodation at the Olympic Park would have been usefully employed as accommodation for visiting MPs. There was already an inbuilt security which could easily have been adapted for the politician's purposes. Seems like an opportunity lost.

My first thoughts were that this seems a good idea but after consideration it would be like putting the royal family on the same together.

[Onelife]

Oop's!.. 'plane'

[Frank Manning]

And the corruption never ends

Richard Sharp helps Johnson obtain a £800k loan, then a few weeks later Johnson recommends Sharp for the role of BBC Chairman.

This is reported by The Times, but is behind a paywall

Johnson has promptly gone to Kyiv again, no doubt to avoid questions and hope the headlines die down.

I'm sure his constituents must be delighted with the amount of time Johnson spends on local interests (said with heavy irony)

Hi Gill,
I pay the Times on line subscription, because it is as near middle of the road as you can get, and some of the political cartoons are brilliant. There are two particularly excellent cartoonists, Peter Brookes and today's cartoon by Morten Morland is brilliant. It depicts Bojo clinging to President Zelensky, who is saying "Always happy to help. I'm expecting Nadhim Zahawi any minute".

As you say, the corruption never ends. All this and some of the tory hard liners want Johnson back. I took a lot of flak when I suggested that he would be a disaster for them, but the brexit faithful wanted their hero.