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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Can’t believe what I just heard/watched (politics related)

73 replies

MsBananaHammock · 19/10/2019 18:11

twitter.com/james_80_/status/1185187195461820417
A labour politician has asked the House of Commons to be financially compensated for having to “work” on a Saturday 😡 I think this is a real slap to the face to all the hard working parents who work all the hours they can get to make ends meet. (Copy and pasted from the parliament.uk web site;) The basic annual salary for an MP from 1 April 2019 is £79,468. MPs also receive expenses to cover the costs of running an office, employing staff, having somewhere to live in London or their constituency, and travelling between Parliament and their constituency.
AIBU to say they should be thankful for the salary they already earn?

OP posts:

Fairyliz · 19/10/2019 21:56

Surely working parents who earn £80k a year can pay for their own childcare?

Passthecherrycoke · 19/10/2019 22:05

Not 7 days a week @Fairyliz

Iggly · 19/10/2019 22:31

The point is not whether they can afford childcare.

The point is why should they even need childcare when it’s not their normal working day?

Chivers53 · 19/10/2019 22:48

@TheFairyCaravan that's because the armed forces (assuming he is by what you have said) are paid 24/7 365. Of course the hourly rate would be ridiculously low, but it's clear from when you join that you are expected to work when needed, including weekends. There's no limit of hours on the working week (and a whole host of other exclusions)- so not sure that comparison works at all really!

Persimmonn · 19/10/2019 22:58

If you’re paid that much, you’re in a position of responsibility. That means having to work outside normal hours in an emergency. I worked in an nhs hospital lab and the people right at the top HAD to come in, in an emergency and oversee things if something went wrong, day/night/weekend. It goes with the job and this is what the high pay package means.

If MP’s are asking to be paid overtime after the shit our country is in, then shame on them. It’s not like the women didn’t know this Saturday was coming. They had plenty of time to arrange childcare.

PurpleFlower1983 · 19/10/2019 22:58

YABU

PerkingFaintly · 19/10/2019 23:04

It’s not like the women didn’t know this Saturday was coming. They had plenty of time to arrange childcare.

The men, of course, don't need to arrange childcare for their children.

Love51 · 19/10/2019 23:08

The nursery isn't open on Saturdays. The childcare workers, who are not on £80k, work Monday - Friday. If they were forced to come into wor

randomchap · 19/10/2019 23:09

The men, of course, don't need to arrange childcare for their children

Absolutely, we never have to do anything for the children, the little lady looks after all of that.

Love51 · 19/10/2019 23:11

Oops
If the childcare workers were forced to come into work, that would be a bit shit (they will have families, caring responsibilities, plans, and possibly partners who work shifts / single parents) If they were offered work at double time, which they could choose to take or leave, that would seem fair.

Love51 · 19/10/2019 23:14

My place won't grant toil if you are taking the piss. If it is clearly a busy time, you can accrue toil and take it with impunity.
If you are working over at the 11th hour because you cba to do the work in a timely manner, you will be subject to questioning and not allowed your time back.

Passthecherrycoke · 19/10/2019 23:16

@Persimmonn what rubbish. I earn that wage and wouldn’t have to come in out of hours. I have never worked on a weekend. I also can’t afford an emergency nanny.

WTFdidwedo · 19/10/2019 23:17

My husband and I are both shift workers working weekends. It's fucking shit to sort childcare and we have a combined income of half of one MP's. It's their own fault for having to work today for fucking about with Brexit for as long as they did. How on earth would anyone have sympathy for the mess they got us all in to!

Iggly · 19/10/2019 23:18

If you’re paid that much, you’re in a position of responsibility

How did you figure that?

Either way it’s not the point. Saturday sittings are rare in parliament. I can’t remember the last time it happened.

If my boss expected me to work on a Saturday I’d ask about childcare too.

PerkingFaintly · 19/10/2019 23:20

Well indeed, randomchap.

I'm actually undecided about whether MPs should get childcare assistance for attending on days they'd usually be working from their constituency or actually not working.

But Bryant making the point seems to have flushed holders of certain beliefs into the open.

GeneticTest · 20/10/2019 00:05

My DH is an MP.

He works every Saturday. I don’t think Chris Bryant should have asked for expenses to cover MP childcare- it’s ridiculous. Yes- parliament sitting today meant plans had to be rearranged, and childcare was more complicated for many MPs. But being an MP is not a job with set hours. You have to have flexible childcare options. Which you pay from your salary.
He’s trying to get MPs to vote for him as speaker. That’s why he said it.

Sitting today wasn’t ‘overtime’. MPs shouldn’t get paid more for just doing their job.
As I said on the other thread, there were ways round it for MPs who couldn’t get childcare- I suspect the families room in Parliament was quite busy today (it’s quite near the chamber). And MPs can take their kids through the voting lobbies now too.

seaweedandmarchingbands · 20/10/2019 06:03

If you’re paid that much, you’re in a position of responsibility. That means having to work outside normal hours in an emergency.

Not according to their contracts, as far as I am aware.

Fairyliz · 20/10/2019 08:09

They have had three years to sort this out. If they had acted like responsibly adults and worked together on a sensible compromise it would have been sorted.
But no they have bickered and argued like little children. Perhaps he was wanting to pay someone to wipe his arse like a baby?

GeneticTest · 20/10/2019 08:24

@seaweedandmarchingbands
MPs don’t have contracts.

seaweedandmarchingbands · 20/10/2019 08:40

Which means they can’t be obligated to do this for no pay.

Iggly · 20/10/2019 08:42

They have had three years to sort this out. If they had acted like responsibly adults and worked together on a sensible compromise it would have been sorted

It can take longer to organise a trade deal so I don’t think so.

The problem is that a) this has been defined as something “simple” b) politicians are trying to shoehorn in things to appease their party politics when this is bigger than that.

If we’d left on terms similar to what we have now, it would be easier.

It’s harder because the UK wants to have its cake (easy trade with the EU) and eat it (with lower standards)

Bluetac19 · 20/10/2019 08:59

OP - what about the non parents? Aren't we trying to make ends meet too or do we all live in gold castles, eating caviar and jet setting on 10 holidays a year? 20% of women aren't mothers and believe me they aren't usually rolling in money.

yellowallpaper · 20/10/2019 10:54

Maybe someone should have pointed out they had a good few days off when Parliament was suspended recently?

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