to suggest that a condition of employment as a MP should be a week living as a member of the working poor, or the unemployed or the squeezed middle before being allowed to make policies that affect th

[LackaDAISYcal]

Fucking fed up to the back teeth of being shat on from a great height by a bunch of twats who have no idea how the majority of the electorate actually live. The way things are going, we will lose our house as it's getting harder to meet our mortgage repayments every month.

[LackaDAISYcal]

that would work too dearcathyandclare!

I personally don't want to be a polititcian HollyBerryBush, I like being around my family too much. I still maintain then right to whinge about a bunch of eejits that I didn't vote for (because I felt they didn't represent my views) and who didn't have a majority vote either, so the "people voted them in" argument doesn't quite wash here imo. Not that the other lot are much better, but hey ho.

And it's clearly impractical for everyone to get into politics as there aren't enough political jobs at a local or national level.

[dearcathyandclare]

My dh has a friend who is a MP and his view, with which I agree is that no one should be in parliament until they have done at least a year working as a volunteer for the CAB. You may be not be living the lives of your constituents but at least you get a real understanding of their difficulties and the realities of continual tight budgeting.

[FasterStronger]

in MN terms I am a right winger, but even I know carers for severely disabled people perform an endless and very valuable job.

And deserve more respect from the rest of us

[expatinscotland]

The Camerons were able to afford two specialist nannies, one for day and one for night. They also applied for and accepted DLA.

[marjproops]

Thank you, fasterstronger

[marjproops]

As I said, i didnt ask for this.

My DC didnt ask to be disabled.
I didnt ask to be a LP.
I was working FT before I became a mum.

I am now working FT as a carer, therefore working and earning what i receive. 168 hour week, no hols,

The scamerons prob had nannies and carers to help them.

Im sure many parents of disabled children do manage to work. and get help. I dont have ANY help.

I hope you are not being judgypants on me, you dont know my circumstances.

[FasterStronger]

surely the Camerons could afford a couple of specialist nannys.... and most people cannot.

some people need to work more, but NOT carers!

[AnnabelKarma]

You say you have to live on benefits as you have a disabled child but the Camerons also had a disabled son who very sadly died. They did both work, by the way , as do many parents of disabled children.

[marjproops]

Sorry, dont understand what you mean by that?

[AnnabelKarma]

marjeproops

Im a fulltime carer for a severely disabled child, lifelong carer for lifelong disabilities.

I didnt ask for this, Im a hardworking person, but i HAVE to live on benefits.


As were the Cameron's but they both worked.

[marjproops]

threebats lol, absolutely right about the kiddy play.(have you noticed we're voting for you for PM?!)

what gets me is that they wonder why there's so much disrespect of people towards each other, anti-social behaviour etc and look at them all like that, in public, all shouting at each other and slamming each other down.

they just dont set examples in any way at all.

[threebats]

The budget today - okay, lets be honest here, every day they meet up in Parliament for their ''happy discussion sessions'' reminded me of when my children were young and they used to all sit about the living room with the PS1 (remember the PS1?!) Shouting at each other, 'You can't do that! I can do it better! Give it to me! You suck! You did that wrong! I'm not playing anymore! Get lost...' I was actually waiting for either party, Conservatives or Labour to go, 'Maaaammmm! He's being a tit, sort him out...'

Politicians, collectively, tire me. Wear me out. Make me want to reach for a beer and a smoke and wonder where it all went so horribly wrong....
At one point, I thought Osborne was going to choke - might that have been all the bile rising in his throat as he attempted to say what a jolly good job he was doing of it all?

I have just popped on here (not intending on saying all the above but couldn't help it!) to say that Osborne has now opened up a Twitter account - for the poster on this thread that said they did not go on Twitter/Facebook and so forth - he must have been bloody reading.... He's a brave soul though - not sure I would have a twitter account if I were him...

[HollyBerryBush]

Fucking fed up to the back teeth of being shat on from a great height by a bunch of twats who have no idea how the majority of the electorate actually live

I can flip your OP, OP.... why don't the 'working poor etc' actually do something radical, like get involved in politics and stand for election?

The current MPs don't magic themselves into office, they are voted in, by the 'working poor etc'.

The 'working poor' also live in a democracy and have the power to change things if they choose to. That was how the Labour party was born.

[TeWiSavesTheDay]

I have spent a lot of time thinking about various MPs circumstances and disability Faster, and I think, that although they have lots of empathy for how tough it can be coming from a privileged background they don't understand how important the financial side is when you are on a tight income.

It is very disappointing. I know a lot of parents with disabled children felt that Cameron would understand their needs, and his policies so far have shown that unfortunately he doesn't really.

[marjproops]

Is there any way MNHQ can 'cut and paste' this thread and send it straight into the laps of Scameron and Cleggit?

They dont seem to read newspapers, watch the news, anyhting at all of the rw.

seriously, can this be done?

Another vote for threebats for PM!!

[FasterStronger]

I dont like shiney dave but his son died recently. Gordons child died as well. And dcs father was a double amputee. They might not understand low incomes but I dont think its accurate to descibe them as wholey lucky.

[ubik]

Indeed - there are many people in work but they cannot get the hours they need - you should see the rush for overtime shifts at my work. It's not the case that people aren't willing - most people are juggling jobs, my cab driver the other night drove a bus by day, cabbed evenings/weekends. that is not unusual.

[Iamsparklyknickers]

I agree we are living in a ge of career politicians - that's why I disagree with the notion of 'national service' for politicians, it would achieve exactly nothing apart from a sound bite with which to patronise us.

There's a lot been said on this thread that I completely agree, particularly threebats, I'm not sure what I want, but a little humility at the fact no-one in power right now is there through popularity. Their careers (and future earnings, lets face it being in the cabinet is a step to a very lucrative retirement in almost all cases) are based on being in the right place at the right time, not through actually being good.

I heard a politician (can't remember who unfortunately - think it was the Wolverhampton MP) talking about the new 'bedroom tax'. He talked about how people could work a few extra hours at work to make up the short fall if they wished to stay in their properties. He very much gave the impression this was the feeling within the government. How out of touch to publicly talk about getting overtime to a nation suffering high rates of employment, talking to people who have had their wages frozen and are being forced to accept zero hours contracts... But yes, there's a million bosses out there just dying to hand out overtime.

I went off Nick Clegg and didn't vote Lib Dem for the first time because during his campaigning he was acting all benevolent and promising to raise the state pension. When a journalist asked him how much, the man pulled a figure out of his arse and said £65 per week! How could someone running for the position of Prime Minister have no idea how much the state pension actually was? It's not like it's a political side issue. Dick.

I think part of the problem is, besides the obvious silver spoons, these people are naturally surrounded by high flyers. They seem to have no concept that luck has played a huge part in their success. There're are millions of ambitious, intelligent, hard working people out there, but fate kicks more people in the groin than it allows to rise to the top. I wonder how many people they've lost touch with along the way who didn't make it.

Maybe we should publish all MP's CV's at any election to get a proper idea of who we're voting for.

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

technical not techical

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

I'm with those who are worried about career politicians. Westminster is such a bubble and if they have never had experience outside of that bubble how on earth do they really know what it is like for most people.

Not only that, but they don't have technical expertise in any area other than politics so how much do they really understand about the issues in front of them. At least with the House of Lords, people do have an understanding of some of the techical issues because there are experts in the house.

Wasn't it Tony Blair who went to Fettes which is the Scottish equivalent of Eton.

[TeWiSavesTheDay]

It's easy enough to stand (the deposit is a LOT if you are poor though) it is near impossible to get elected without party backing in a viable seat.

[DIYWidow]

I grew up in Slough, only two miles away from Eton but the other side of the M4. As teenage girls we used to bump into Eton school boys in Windsor Mcdonalds - not one of us ever snogged them/wanted one as a boyfriend. They made the boys back at state (grammar) school look kinder, funnier, more intelligent every time.

Imagine going to a single sex, old fashioned, full of archaic slang boarding school with people from a limited wealth pool -that does n't train you for a normal job, with normal people who live at home with their parents and their worries.
It's unbelievable that such a sizeable number from a limited pool are making decisions for the huge variety of people and industries out there.

[TeWiSavesTheDay]

I would stand for average wage, if there was somewhere free to live in the week (I like the block of flats idea, it's perfectly sensible).

At least it would weed out the career crazy's and maybe some more reasonable passionate MPs would arise.

I'd generally just prefer it if MPs came from a wider range of backgrounds. You don't see many (any?) MPs that used to be social workers, or nurses when really their input would be extremely relevant to social policies. Instead they are 'consulted' and then usually ignored...

[marjproops]

What Dahlen said.

How can any of us ranting here even get an eyelash in the door of politics?

Im a fulltime carer for a severely disabled child, lifelong carer for lifelong disabilities.

I didnt ask for this, Im a hardworking person, but i HAVE to live on benefits.

This morning in the post I get a letter saying with this 'all in it together' gov laws i now have to pay council tax.

I home school DC as there are no schools AT ALL available for her, and Im paying for all school resources, (seving these theives £19,000 a year) pullup pants as I dont get them from anyone else, and ive had to buy less food this morning as suddenly everythings gone up.

i like to buy fresh fruit and veg and theyre costing a bomb now.

so yyyyy OP, they should live in our sandals not their designer expensive shoes. who the hell do we vote for? who knows REAL life?

why the hell are they robbing the poor and putting it in their ever growing pockets?