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.

[ubik]

Years ago politicians were not 'career politicians' they had worked at ordinary jobs before standing for parliament. They went to work at Westminster on public transport, they didn't regard the electorate as pond life.

Now we have a political elite - yes you can become an MP but if you want up climb the ladder you need to be on message. The are fantastic constituency MPs really making a difference, listening to concerns, working hard to improve life. But the one's that make policy, who hold the real power, they are a different breed and they do not give a toss how hard your life is because they truly believe that it's all your own fault. And that goes for Conservative and Labour.

It's a crying shame but perhaps the cliche is true - the people get the government they deserve.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

I think being an MP should be mandatory and random like jury service.

Wanting to be an MP should automatically bar you from the post.

[ubik]

I heard that to be a member of the Bullingdon Club you have to burn a £50 note in front of a homeless person. Nice.

[lurkedtoolong]

While I think that the current government is a shower of heartless cretins I hate this "you have to live in the real world" nonsense. Everyone has different experiences that they bring to the table. Someone who seems to have a fairly comfortable financial life may have struggled dreadfully with depression or illness and have experiences that others cannot imagine. People who have struggled financially may never have seen the NHS at its worst and have never experienced that side of the "real world".

We all have our troubles that no one knows about. Competitive misery helps no-one.

[flurp]

Threebats for PM'
I'd vote for you

[Kazooblue]

If you have never needed the NHS or state education you are not qualified to make decisions on it.

How can you decide what an average family can manage on if you've never lived an average life.

Boris Johnson is a perfect case in point.

On justifying the blatant unfairness re CB he said that those losing it use it to restock their wine cellars and to go on decent safari and ski-ing holidays like he did.

Really Boris,perhaps if you had ever tried real life you'd know that just isn't true and then you wouldn't have contributed to such a balls up.

If wallpaper boy had experienced real life maybe he would have known that continuously squeezing families means growth will dry up.

[ChairmanWow]

That Bullingdon Club initiation ceremony

Sickening. And says everything you need to know about the suitability of its former members to serving as MPs.

[Andro]

We think millionaires or those who have parents that are millionaires should be banned from government.

So the entrepreneur who has built him/herself up from nothing and become a millionaire should be banned from government, just because s/he have been successful? Surely that's the kind of business acumen a country with a damaged economy needs near the top?

[Kazooblue]

I think you lose sight of real life when you're not living it.

Not sure why entrepreneurs are better qualified than many other people to run the country to be frank.

Money and luck don't make you a good leader as we have recently seen.

[FasterStronger]

Not sure why entrepreneurs are better qualified than many other people to run the country to be frank.

because they have a track record of creating jobs, which is what we as a country obv need.

[Andro]

I think you lose sight of real life when you're not living it.

Do you really think that someone who came from poverty, but succeeded through hard work and intellect will have forgotten 'where they came from'? I find that difficult to believe tbh (I am referring to those who have made it in business, not just 'got lucky').

Entrepreneurs may not be better qualified than 'many other people' to run the country, but I think in many cases they would be better qualified than 'professional politicians'.

[Kazooblue]

But it isn't all about creating jobs,far from it.

Also not many come from true poverty before getting to the top(life isn't a Barbara Taylor Bradford novel).

It could also be said if you did come from nothing and got to the top this could give you a false view of work ethic.Many people work their arses off and get nowhere,luck can't be bought.

[Badvoc]

The Oxbridge types who were born into privilege have no idea how the vast majority live.
They have never had to balance a bank account, do a weekly shop, budget for Xmas, go,without so ourndc dont, try and find cheap hols like the rest of us do.
They are so insulated from the decisions and hard work of everyday life and frankly the policies coming out of the coalition govt show that very clearly.
The days of kinnock and major are over. It's all going to be Oxbridge boys and bullingdon club members from now on....

[FasterStronger]

if its not about creating jobs, what do we want from political leaders at the moment?

[Kazooblue]

Errrrm making decisions that aren't utterly crap,on which they continuously have to U turn and which the vast majority without the benefit of a privileged education can see will lead us nowhere would be a start.

[FasterStronger]

in policy terms what do you want?

[GrowSomeCress]

millionaires banned from politics? i've heard it all now

[Crinkle77]

here here Mummymeister. I often say this to my boyfriend when he moans about the state of the country. I tell him anyone can stand as an MP or local councillor. Also lets not forget Not all MP's are born with a silver spoon in their mouth. In fact many come from ordinary backgrounds - even Thatcher who was the daughter of a grocer.

[ubik]

I would like an end to the 'bedroom tax' which I think is clear evidence that the government hates those of low socio-economic status.

I would like more if a focus on recouping tax from major corporations who benefit from our educated workforce/ reasonable infrastructure.

I would like a review of PFI -I would love to know how much taxpayers money is disappearing into the pockets of these companies. I would like a review of procurement processes.

I would like an end to school league tables.

More than anything I would like to feel that policy is bring properly thought through and debated and not drawn up in response to the latest DM hysteria. I would like to feel those in power actually were fit to run a country, had a clue how things worked in real life, so that I could trust them to run stuff while I get on with my own stuff.

[Kazooblue]

Oh a list as long as my arm.

[Kazooblue]

Ubik's last paragraph features pretty high on it.

[SoniaGluck]

Errrrm making decisions that aren't utterly crap,on which they continuously have to U turn and which the vast majority without the benefit of a privileged education can see will lead us nowhere would be a start.

Absolutely Kazoo. Theo Paphitis pointed out on Question Time last week that the so called bedroom tax was not going to save any money at all. It was going to be so costly to implement that it would probably cost more than it saved. It is just a gimmick - so that it looks like the government is doing something.

Of course, job creation is extremely important but I've yet to see any real progress on that front and there is more to governing than that.

So many of the Coalition's policies seem to demonise the poor and are so divisive. It really will end up polarising the different groups into even more entrenched "us and them" attitudes.

[FasterStronger]

recouping tax from major corporations if they are registered to pay tax in another country, how would you make them pay tax here?

i can only see an increase in VAT doing this but hands up for a VAT increase....

[Takver]

YANBU, though agree 6 months would be better.

However, I would take it further. Here is my programme for MPs (before you jump on me, I know it is unrealistic, but I'd love to do it anyway)

1. MPs salary to be set at the current median full time wage
   
2. No additional jobs allowed
   
3. All other family income, earned or unearned, whether to them or their DH/DW/DP to go automatically into a blind trust which they cannot access until they leave parliament (Their DW/H/P would be allowed to keep access to the median f/t or p/t wage - depending on hours worked - out of anything they earned)
   
4. I would build/buy a large block of flats somewhere reasonably central in London (I know this would be tricky). All MPs would be issued with one of these to be their London base (there would be larger flats for those with children) so no rent/expenses etc paid for second homes.

[Takver]

And I think it is important to recognise that the top flight of Labour are no better than the Conservatives - the era of John Prescott et al died with strong unions. The new high fliers are 90% drawn from the same narrow gene pool of researchers/PPE grads/thinktank employees.