Our Mp's

[Malcolm Robinson]

So our MP's think they are worth a pay rise………flipping heck!

The Tories think they're worth £96,740 pa, while the Lib /Lab pact are more 'reasonable' at £78,000 pa.

I thought they were paid about £65K at present……..if so that's one hell of a pay rise in percentage terms when most people are being blackmailed into getting nowt and told they should be thankful to have a job.

Seems once again the most unproductive are rewarded very nicely thank you………!!!!!!

[Adam Hogg]

Are they not in the public sector so their pay should be caped at a 1% increase?

[threegee]

"More reasonable"!! Why should they be paid at all? Let's examine the history:

Salaries for Members of Parliament were first introduced in modern times in 1911 by the Liberal Government. The salary was initially set at £400 per annum and stayed at that level until 1937, when it was increased to £600 (National Government), although salaries were temporarily reduced between 1931 and 1935 because of the economic crisis.

Salaries were increased again in 1946 (Clement Atlee - Labour), to £1,000 per annum, and in 1957 to £1,750 (Harold Macmillan - Conservative). In 1953 a salary increase was recommended but not implemented (Winston Churchill - Conservative), although a sessional allowance of £2 per sitting day was made available to Members.

In 1964 salaries were increased in line with the Lawrence Committee recommendation, to £3,250 per annum (Harold Wilson - Labour).

Someone once said to me that the first thing Labour will do when they get power is vote themselves an increase - and they were right! So don't blame traditional Tories who have always been moderate on the issue, though the current generation now line up at the trough just like the rest. History proves that if MPs get paid standards deteriorate, and you get people who can't really hold down any sort of proper job. That's not the sort of people we need to be running the country!

The Blair/Brown Years:

Jan-96 £34,085

Jul-96 £43,000

Apr-97 £43,860

Apr-98 £45,066

Apr-99 £47,008

Apr-00 £48,371

Apr-01 £49,822

Jun-01 £51,822

Apr-02 £55,118

Apr-03 £56,358

Apr-04 £57,485

Apr-05 £59,095

Apr-06 £59,686

Nov-06 £60,277

Apr-07 £61,181

Nov-07 £61,820

Apr-08 £63,291

Apr-09 £64,766

Apr-10 £65,738

Not bad for a part-time "job" that you can stroll in and out of, to fit in around all your other little earners. And, of course, you get your expenses (some of them even justified) and a nice fat pension.

The expenses I've come across so far:

Travel

Free rail passes for: "travel between London and constituency, constituency and ordinary residence, and ordinary residence and London; and to cover air travel"

Car Mileage Allowance

40p per mile up to 10,000 miles, and 25p per mile thereafter.

Incidental Expenses Provision

????

Staffing Allowance

"to allow the employment of up to 3.5 staff". (A biggie - but probably no longer includes employing you own family!)

Personal Additional Accommodation Expenditure

Maximum £24,222.

Communications Allowance/Communications Expenditure

"increased to £10,400 from 1 April 2008" (Almost certainly doesn't include the free iPads we bought them!)

I never realised mobile Internet was so expensive. I seem to be able to get a good always-on service on my smartphone for the equivalent of £7 p/m, with a couple of hours of phone and 120 free SMS thrown in for free.

A House of Commons advisory committee this year claimed MPs could save money by using mobile tablet-style computers to keep up to date with their parliamentary business.

Its recommendation was this week accepted by the House of Commons Commission, chaired by John Bercow, the Speaker.

With no reduction in sight of this flat £10,400 it looks like Mr Berkow's cunning plan didn't work! Or maybe he just fancied one for himself?

Select committees seem to be terribly popular these days. I wonder how much more gravy attendance of those produces?

[Malcolm Robinson]

Not MP's but you think we have it bad................

http://newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-politics/6589-gordon-matheson-apologises-as-sex-act-scandal-rocks-glasgow-labour

[Malcolm Robinson]

http://www.bbc.co.uk...litics-20392131