Comments on: How much are our MPs worth?

By: Rachel Farrington

Rachel Farrington — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:22:37 +0000

New Labour MPs should be made to live on the minimum wage, since they tried so hard to bring it in for us.
A 95% wage rate above their constituents, and pay rises for themselves, in a country where they are eroding our public services at a rate far greater than Conservative could have managed.
Our payments of taxes make us the customer, well I’m one very unsatisfied customer, and would be happy to be one of the million to refuse to pay, I still remember the refusal to pay poll tax, and its impact on the then government.

By: Terry Milton

Terry Milton — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:28:32 +0000

The government exists to run the economy. It follows that MP’s should be paid the national average wage. If they want a pay rise, they get it on performance related basis. At present, MP’s earn more than 95% of their constituents, that’s why they are out of touch. Support services for MP’s should come via civil service - including research - and no expenses would be necessary at all. The constituentcy MP’s office should be attached to the local council, and we coulsd sell offf the outdated westminster palace. They can communicate by video conference.

By: Me

Me — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:10:05 +0000

MPs’ pay is unacceptably high and is mainly because of extra benefits and privileges that allow working for their own sake and getting paid by us. We should go on fiscal strike so they cannot pay their wages. I work for a local authority and I would loose my wage, too. But it would be for a good cause. Let’s decide on a date and tell politicians that we will stop paying taxes (at least 1 million of us) if they do not persuade us they did a good job working for us. They only listen to money; let’s have it talk in our name!!!

By: Kevin Farley

Kevin Farley — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:40:57 +0000

The very practice of voting themselves a pay rise brings their very exitance int to disrepute.

It makes me feel sick that the majority of people accept this absurd situation, largely because of ignorance of voting systems.

If you look at the number of people who voted in percentage terms of the eligible population and the number of votes for New Labour it would shame any western democracy.

The party leader that puts a sensible alternative to MPS voting their own pay rise through, will win a General Election with a landslide..

The question is …Who will be brave enough?

By: Colin Humberstone

Colin Humberstone — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:32:40 +0000

Politicians need to realise that they are public servants and as such need to practice what they preach and award themselves a below inflation increase as they have forced this on other public sector workers. If they don’t they are showing themselves as nothing but hypocrites.

By: William Fowler

William Fowler — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 17:56:07 +0000

The whole concept of cost of living rises is a con, an MP’s basic cost of living is no greater than that of mine or anybody else. They live like lords, get their helpers to do all the hard work, their disposable income is huge. What we need is a level playing field, could start with the police getting the MP’s proposed increase and the MP’s getting the Policemens proposed increase. The Rich are running away with all the money and things must change!

By: The Portable Antiquities Scheme and the Indifference of Government « Archaeoastronomy

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 12:49:50 +0000

[...] for it by building the infrastructure. The PAS is part of this future, if it’s funded. The scheme could be funded if MPs only increase their allowances by £7,000 this year instead of the…. Alternatively they could fund the scheme for four years if they received the same level of support [...]

By: Dudley Holley

Dudley Holley — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 12:45:49 +0000

MP’s are an expensive irrelevance except at election time and even that could be conducted in other ways.
Wouldn’t we all love to vote on what rise we received, have our council tax paid for, claim £20,000 a year for mortgage relief, even if we didn’t have a mortgage. The list of perks is endless and infuriating for the hard working, overtaxed voter, oh, and I forgot the extra £10,000 a year, just arranged for ‘communicating to the electorate’!
And finally, how many of us can have a job of such generous benefits, and then be allowed to have as many other jobs as we like.
No wonder whenever I watch PM’s question time, they all seem so jolly, and full of laughter…… wouldn’t you!

By: Steve Birkett

Steve Birkett — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 08:42:08 +0000

I don’t think MP’s put thier lives on the line everytime they are on duty nor do they work anti-social shifts,have thier leave cancelled at short notice,brave whatever weather is thrown at them so why should they get a rise more than anyone else, pherhaps Police,Fire service,Ambulance crews,Nurses and armed forces on active duty should have thier wages bumped up to the same as MP’s

By: Mike T

Mike T — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 22:33:26 +0000

MPs are supposedly managing the country, in that those in the majority party form a government and those in the smaller parties form an opposition whose job is to curb the worst excesses of those in government and keep them on the straight and narrow. On that basis, they are all managers.

The actions of any individual MP are not critical except to his/her own career. No-one will die, and no enterprise will go bust, as a result of a single MP’s wrong decision. On that basis, they have no compelling individual responsibility to get things right, so can’t be regarded as senior managers and are more akin to middle managers, so should be paid accordingly (which they currently are, although decidedly on the high side).

So, if they are collectively responsible for managing the country and hold the position of middle managers, their pay, like that of middle managers, should be related to the performance of
the enterprise which they are managing. A simple matrix of indices which measure the performance of the country; economic growth, crime, employment, tax rates, public sector borrowing, size of national debt, etc, would provide an adequate overall performance measure. When things get better, their pay goes up; when things get worse, their pay stays the same. This would give every MP an incentive to do his/her job properly by constantly lobbying the government to do what is best for the country instead of slavishly acceding to the political dogma of his/her own party.

MPs should not be allowed to vote themselves a pay rise. The whole concept is an outdated farce.

Of course the indices would be “spun” to show the country’s performance in the best possible light, but that is no more than happens already and the truth will always out, as now with the crumbling economy. Blaming American mortgage lenders is no good. The mess in the UK is the result of poor management and should be reflected in the pay packets of the “managers”.

Could this system be implemented? No - because MPs would have to vote for it to happen and which of them in their right mind is going to vote for a pay freeze? And I can hear a droning, superior sort of voice right now, saying something on the lines of “…considerations of pay cannot be allowed to influence the decisions of government”. No, indeed not. We can see ample evidence of that!