Tuesday 2 July 2013

Filthy Lucre and the Greasy Pole


A gathering of honest MPs at Westminster

Like the old tale of the man who asked an Irishman for directions and was told ‘well, yer wouldn’t wanta be startin from here’, I suspect the answer to the question ‘should MPs be paid more’ is, ‘yes, but not THESE MPs’.

In other words, we want a much higher calibre of MP and we’d be prepared to pay enough to attract him or her. But much of the current lot deserve to be banged up for fraud rather than paid more.

There is a solution – fewer MPs, equal sized constituencies and open primaries. Make every single one of them go through a gruelling local selection by open primary. Allow no party placement or union sponsorship.

As in many other areas, Dan Hannan is clear and succinct:

5 comments:

Thud said...

I'm not sure why anybody would work for so little, mind you not many appear too bright so they probably think themselves lucky.

Sebastian Weetabix said...

Work for so little??? Don't you kid yourself.

It's not the gross salary that matters, it's the net allowances on top. Much higher than the hand-wringing classes could obtain if they pursued gainful employment.

Politicians: people who look for trouble everywhere, find it, and apply the wrong solutions.

Anonymous said...

Totally off topic but I was travelling along the A59 this week and noticed that your favourite hotel - "The Brown Leaves" has been demolished and is being re-developed for housing.

idle said...

Thank you, Lakelander. This is the sort of service one expects from ones loyal readership.

I wonder what the new min i housing estate will call it self. Prudence Parade, perhaps, or Misanthrope Manor.

Hang 'em all said...

Don't pay them; compensate them for lost earnings based on what they earned before they were MPs.

Most of the current lot would be on about two and six a month.