AIBU to be surprised by MPs earning £98k plus expenses?

Perhaps we already do have them. Is Nigel Farage an AI MP? He’s barely human, he’s dead behind the eyes.

Ditto Boris Johnson. He never was human.

Maybe we should have AI MPs and see if anyone notices any difference?

Who is your local MP, OP? Keen to know who it is that does nothing except get photos taken on building sites and at schools. I wonder what they do the rest of the time.

Their salary should be x times NMW so if they get a pay rise, the ordinary workers do too.

@DenizenOfAisleOfShame It’s a shame we just don’t accept alternative work is not necessarily a bad thing. Limited hours should enhance knowledge.

Rayner fiercely criticised MPs with second jobs. Then after her unfortunate tax episode and relegation to the backbenches…she took a second job!

@salagadoojobs, if MPs can fit them in, are an important source of info for MPs. They are not a source of conflicting interest. We have Angela Rayner and others supported and sponsored by Trades Unions and there’s a very obvious policy bias as a result . Unions buy influence . Just because someone does a bit of work, they should not be demonised. Labour has long done favours for its paymaster. Farage will try and do favours for his.

So what’s to stop you becoming an Mp or at the very least putting yourself forward. Especially as you think it’s such a cushy number

Is Nigel “I’m a man of the people” Farage a shining example of a hardworking MP? Or is he a wealthy buffoon, far more psychopathic and dangerous than Boris Johnson, and it seems that there are no checks and balances on him and his vitriol?

I won't argue with you there Bringemouth
MPs of all parties have been woeful on sex based rights. 😞

There was a select committee on sex based rights (I can’t remember which) and I literally couldn’t believe how utterly uninformed many MP’s were about basic terms, they were unfamiliar with the arguments. It was dire. I could only out it down to genuine stupidity because there is no way that someone who had taken even a cursory glance at the issues should have been confused. Just shocking imo.

This isn’t party political either, it’s just that we need better than what we have. Everyone deserves to have decent options whichever party they want to vote for.

I think we are low compared to most european countries, our MP’s are paid less than a lot of local council SLT’s. I honestly think we need to bung it up to 200k for an MP and 500k for the prime minister. In the big scheme of things it’s not actually that expensive but the quality should improve massively. Doesn’t mean you won’t get the odd dunce.

I earn more without being remotely a public figure subject to intense scrutiny, and do a 9-5 job. I'd never switch off as an MP.

Oh just remembered:

I also followed the Education Committee enquiry into Home Education, that led the way to recent regulation.

As a home educating parent that's something I know a bit about. I thought the enquiry was very thorough and the recommendations were sensible.

I actually wrote to the then chair, Robert Halfron to express support because he was getting so much undeserved stick from sections of the home education community.

Are you joking? 50k??? It is way too low at 98k. Probably never really allowed to switch off and have to deal with so much rubbish. Being paid a low wage means you are more susceptible to being influenced by favours or perks or end up doing second jobs which end up being a conflict of interest

I've watched two select committee hearings on subjects I would say I know a lot about.

They were the Construction Industry Blacklist and the worker abuses at Sports Diect.

Both times, I was generally pleased with the caliber of questions MPs were asking.

And both hearings resulted in new information emerging into the public sphere.

Yes but MPs are supposed to represent normal people, not just wealthy lawyers.

A newly qualified lawyer (who is basically entirely useless and has zilch responsibility) in my London law firm earns significantly more than an MP at £120k. My office is full of lawyers (probably around 500) - all the qualified ones will be on £120k or significantly more. Multiply that by multiple similar law firms in London and you'll see that £100k is not a large salary in many people's world. There's no way I would want to do an MP job although the pay isn't the only factor. From what I can see, it's never ending, difficult and thankless.

Think it should be more TBF. Maybe around £150k. Think about it why quit being a city director to do this if you're not as well renumerated

I don’t think they are paid enough for that. You wouldn’t catch me doing that job for that amount of money. It’s an important job and it’s unrealistic to pay them peanuts. Do you want good people in the job?

They should be paid more. It might attract a better calibre of people than the thickos we’ve got.

I’m looking at the assisted dying debate. Kim leadbetter et al are not serious people.

They work very hard and absolutely deserve it. £50k is definitely not enough, Jesus Christ! It’s not a normal job.

So many comments on this thread suppose that being an MP is a job and salaries can be compared. But it’s not a proper job, like one that you’d find out about (or be approached for), apply for, be interviewed for, have appraisals, apply for promotion, be sacked or made redundant from, and so on.

That’s just not why or how people become MPs. They become MPs either because they have a sense of duty and of public service (hardly any) or because they want what they see as prestige and the chance to show off in the commons and to wield power (all the rest), albeit for backbenchers their only influence is when they gang up and become a nuisance. And they get into parliament by hanging around local constituency branches for years until they get the nod to stand, all the time sitting as an inconsequential councillor or doing some meaningless job.

MPs are not paid because they’re useful or productive, they’re paid because they have to be. If we halved their salaries there’d still be the same people begging to be elected because they want to think they’re important. It’s a vanity role.

I agree with this

I think it illustrates why we don't have the best people in parliament.
In fact I would say that some of them are so uneducated and unskilled that they want the job for the money. Looking at Zak Polanski.