In the news

david cameron say he can't stop a 5% payrise for MP's in the coming financial year

yeah it's not like he's the leader of the country, lawmaker and king of the lizards or anything .... oh wait hang on a minute

well at least he tried !

What utter cunthood.

Specially because they have stopped all payrises for other public sector workers, including very low paid ones. 5% is enormous.

It's made me decide to become an MP- they're minted and it's indoor work with no heavy lifting.

Bet the pension is awesome also.

you better believe their pensions are awesome .... they make the laws they're not gonna underpay themselves now are they

well it might not be 5% but it got the required reaction
probably a bit less

they're not gonna underpay themselves now are they

Parliamentarians are a highly altruistic group of public servants. It is obvious to me that none of them are in it for the money. Conservative MPs in particular only want to help poor people whilst working towards world peace.
I bet none of them are kiddy fiddlers either, none of them.
5% of an MP's wage wouldn't even cover a decent pair of shoes.
Do you really expect these people to go barefoot just because you are envious?

Fuck this private sector shit- I want a Duck House WITH A MOAT, and I want it paid for by plebs the general public, whilst I rudely enter a rent boy in my second home.

whilst flipping it ... ( the house not the rent boy that is )

You don't want to flip a rent boy. Making eye contact is just awkward

I don't think that MPs are in it for the salary. Most of them could use their slimey skills to earn much more in the real world. They are mostly there for power, vanity and the networking opportunities that will make them truly rich in years to come.

Dare I say that some are actually in it to try to change things for the better, however ineffective they may be. I would suggest reading Chris Mullin's excellent "A View From the Foothills".

I do believe that all their office and staffing expenses are supposed to come out of their salary. I think it would be better if these things were separated into properly accounted-for payments for salary, office expense and staffing expense.

Office & staffing expenses come out of expenses, unless they are personal (or party political).

But they should be accounted for, and utterly transparent.

As if we need reminding of what happens when Parliament's finances are kept hidden...

MPs aren't paid enough. If they were they wouldn't go out whoring themselves to big business.

Judges are paid a fortune so they can't be bribed. MPs should be the same.

Pay them £150k a year but say they cannot have any other earnings. That would attract the right people.

£60k for the importance of what they do isn't anywhere near enough, which is why you get the proliferation of the already rich and crooked gits.

An extra £60m on the wage bill is nothing if it meant the right people could afford to do the job.

I'd like a few more MPs who realise that £60,000 is extremely good pay indeed. What kind of a fucking fantasy world do you live in where that is not a high wage?

" Pay them £150k a year but say they cannot have any other earnings. That would attract the right people." ^

The answer I would give has already been given by DST above

" I don't think that MPs are in it for the salary. Most of them could use (there) (sp.) slimey skills to earn much more in the real world. They are mostly there for power, vanity and the networking opportunities that will make them truly rich in years to come. "

They should be working for the good of society to make things better for the majority of us. Currently they are trying to get as much out of it for themselves and screwing joe average / man on the street / the working man.

Well, take a look at our prime minister. He's the one saying people should spend more money to help the economy.

He earns €144.000 a year. He drives a Saab 9-3 from 1999 with a current value of about €3500. He bought his house in 1999 for €23.000. He usually drives an old Dutch lady bicycle with a value of around €80. He wears a lot of sweaters from sheep wool. Really cheap sweaters and often with holes in them. He got 2 suits, 4 shirts, 2 ties and 2 pairs of shoes. He buys his groceries from the market and the cheapest shops instead of going to the supermarket. He's personally destroying the car industry, the house market and our pensions. Instead of doing everything he can to save our economy he's trying to destroy it. He's the Margaret Thatcher of our country. When he dies people will party.

I'd like a few more MPs who realise that £60,000 is extremely good pay indeed. What kind of a fucking fantasy world do you live in where that is not a high wage?

Very much this.

Even £15,000 is a very high wages to me.

I'd like a few more MPs who realise that £60,000 is extremely good pay indeed. What kind of a fucking fantasy world do you live in where that is not a high wage?

Average London salary is £34,330, so it's close to double what the "average Londoner" earns.

Figures from: http://career-advice.monster.co.uk/salary-benefits/pay-salary-advice/uk-average-salary-graphs/article.aspx

I know very few people who earn less than £60k. I know very few people who have as much responsibility as an MP.

MP wages are kept artifically low by the fact that people are so easily outraged by their representatives earning multiples more than they earn down t'pit. Their wages are miniscule compared to a half-decent lawyer, accountant, middle manager, IT contractor. So we end up with a Parliament disproportionately populated by people of 'independent means' i.e. rich fucks. Might as well still be the C19th.

Maybe you need to realise that the people you know make up a very small percentage of earners. Parliament is not full of independently wealthy people; it's full of people from the professions you mention, especially the law, who also have a very skewed notion of what is a good wage.

Make them earn the same as a nurse in an ITU and then see how they feel about the link between money and responsibility.

They'd probably take on more non-exec directorships to make ends meet Will.

That and lobby for arms sales to Iran etc.

hands up if you think more than 10% of MP's are in it to help the people of their consituency

in fact i would be almost certain that during the vetting process done by the parties if a prospective MP said he wanted to help the people who voted him / her in, they'd be turfed out on their ears

the political party just wants yes men / women who will, after kicking up a small fuss, vote for whatever the leader says they should vote for

sheep, the lot of them, and not very nice sheep at that

hands up if you think more than 10% of MP's are in it to help the people of their consituency

in fact i would be almost certain that during the vetting process done by the parties if a prospective MP said he wanted to help the people who voted him / her in, they'd be turfed out on their ears

the political party just wants yes men / women who will, after kicking up a small fuss, vote for whatever the leader says they should vote for

sheep, the lot of them, and not very nice sheep at that

This is exacerbated by parties 'parachuting in' favoured candidates to safe seats. I'm pretty certain Peter Mandelson had minimal connection to the people of Hartlepool.

I'm not sure I know anyone that earns close to £60000, not sure I know many people who are on £30000, which is more than mine and my wife's combined wages.

But then I am in t'north.