tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6153021073295963928.post8058712081045389886..comments2023-10-17T17:08:48.444+01:00Comments on Fulham Reactionary: MPs want a bigger troughFulham Reactionaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15966316580829187182noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6153021073295963928.post-61973458175045550732008-05-14T16:32:00.000+01:002008-05-14T16:32:00.000+01:00I'm still waiting for a satisfactory conclusion to...I'm still waiting for a satisfactory conclusion to the 10p fiasco. I was £200pa. down now will be given £120 to compensate yet others up to the tune of £40,000pa. who lost nothing will get a windfall of £120.<BR/><BR/>But then, who am I other than a pensioner among the lowest income group. What's £80pa. they might say, but my eyes have been well and truly opened to a Labour Party stuffing the poorest.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6153021073295963928.post-60215046672104837912008-05-12T14:22:00.000+01:002008-05-12T14:22:00.000+01:00juliamTo be fair, at least footballers have to be ...juliam<BR/><BR/>To be fair, at least footballers have to be good at something and are paid (more or less) accordingly. As to excessively rewarded entertainers, Madonna, for instance, receives huge amounts of dosh because there are people out there who - of their own free will - are happy to buy what she creates. To me (and you?) it's ludicrous that such enormous amounts should accrue to Madonna but who am I to criticise somebody for liking (and paying for out of their own pockets) what she offers to the world. Nobody taxes me to pay for Madonna's lifestyle.<BR/><BR/>Prescott's gifts on the other hand, such as they are (and which include a tendency to gluttony with respect to both food and sex) would - in the real world - not attract a salary much in excess of that of the bar steward he was. It's instructive that Prescott's efforts to get on in the world were aimed at making his way in union and party politics rather than getting another and better job in the (non-political) marketplace.<BR/><BR/>gary monro<BR/><BR/>It seems to me that the basic role of MPs is to control the executive: if they can't do that then there's no point in continuing with Parliament except as a tourist attraction. Unfortunately, because of the way UK politics has developed, there are two enormous barriers to MPs effectively controlling the executive; first party politics and second the EU. Party politics, although ensuring that, broadly speaking, the electorate's choice of a political agenda is carried through, has the downside that the MP (almost) invariably depends on his party to become and remain an MP: and by "his party" I mean the leaders of his party. Couple this with the facts that around 80% of legislation affecting the UK is created in Brussels and that Parliament is unable to challenge that legislation (although there is a spurious partly-secret "review" process) and you have Parliament - ie MPs - acting as a transmission belt between the EU and UK citizens rather than as a critical (in both senses) stage in the legislative process<BR/><BR/>So what do we pay MPs for? Coming closer to home, my MP is very assiduous in local politics (planning disputes, council shortcomings, bumpy roads etc) for which we supposedly elect councillors but when it comes to the real thing (state finance, referendums, NHS, defence etc) she - as a LibDem - is ignored by the administration. So, for purposes of controlling the executive (both locally - it's a Labout council - and nationally) she is effectively useless. It seems to me all that paying MPs a fairly generous salary results in is creating lobby-fodder. (Who, after all, would walk out of a grand ego-massage of a job in order to find one where you have to demonstrate your worth every single day to the guy who's paying your wages?). In any event, even if paying more got you a clutch of first class MPs, because they have no real power (individually or collectively), it would be a monumental waste of talent. It's better to pay MPs as the part-timers and powerless functionaries they really are. Maybe in time you'd get rid of the time-servers and parasitic barnacles on the body politic. However, this wouldn't, of itself, cure the sickness of our politics but, there again, paying them more would only make that sickness worse.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6153021073295963928.post-15909177719681908592008-05-12T12:05:00.000+01:002008-05-12T12:05:00.000+01:00I understand the sentiments expressed but not sure...I understand the sentiments expressed but not sure I agree with the conclusions. My view is that MPs potentially can shirk their duties but actually in many cases work punishing hours.<BR/><BR/>I'm a local councillor and add council duties to my full-time job. It's pretty tough and, although I do a pretty reasonable job, I do a fraction of what some others do. Retired people who are elected councillors find the job can be full-time - some work more hours now as councillors than they did as full-time employees.<BR/><BR/>The point is that there is always work to do and causes to represent and for an MP I imagine the workload can be quite a bit more than it is even for a councillor. A moderately conscientious MP could easily do a 60-hour week if he just worked on what was unavoidable, that was put in front of him. If he was a campaigning or go-ahead type that workload could increase dramatically.<BR/><BR/>By all means rant against real corruption but maybe be careful about suggesting that minor executive pay for the people who run the country is in itself corrupt. <BR/><BR/>Cheers...Gary Monrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17109092036174279876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6153021073295963928.post-8393223797782872992008-05-12T10:08:00.000+01:002008-05-12T10:08:00.000+01:00"In how many professions other than politics could...<I>"In how many professions other than politics could a cretinous thug like John Prescott get anywhere close to being able to afford such a house?"</I><BR/><BR/>Footballer? In fact, pretty much any kind of 'entertainment profession'. <BR/><BR/>But that's it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com