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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think the headline about young MP giving away half her wage is misleading?

198 replies

SarahH12 · 15/12/2019 02:07

A friend shared an article with the headline "Britain's youngest MP vows to only take home £35k of her £79k salary" with lots of comments that it's great she is giving away half her salary.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/britains-youngest-mp-vows-only-21094591?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mirror_main

By the time you take into account tax, NI, pension, possibly student loan etc her take home would be in the region of 40-45k. So whilst it's great she's planning on donating 5-10k and it's a lot more than a lot of people, she is nowhere near giving away "half" her salary. Also she mentions she wants to take home a "working" salary. The average nurse takes home way less than 35k!! I work for the NHS and I don't know a single one of my colleagues who takes home that much.

OP posts:
GrimDamnFanjo · 15/12/2019 02:22

I think perhaps Dennis Skinner only drew a miners salary?
Personally I think that shel will regret this once the realities of the job kick in.

DioneTheDiabolist · 15/12/2019 02:50

She's taking a Workers Wage and donating the rest. It's a noble but not a new thing. Other MPs have done the same. YABU OP. For not slagging off someone doing a good thing and for not creating a clicky link.

DioneTheDiabolist · 15/12/2019 02:51

Oops, that should be for slagging off someone doing a good thing.

QueenofPain · 15/12/2019 02:59

Poor woman has only been in the job 2 days and she’s already being criticised for trying to do something decent.

She’s 23 years old, grew up in one of the most rough and deprived areas of Nottingham, the child of an immigrant single mother. Give her a bloody chance.

Fr0g · 15/12/2019 03:03

about £12k per annum - more if she donates before tax.
Sounds pretty generous to me.
I doubt she penned the "giving half her salary away" headline.

What percentage of your salary do you give to charity OP?

steff13 · 15/12/2019 03:04

If she's only taking home $35K of her salary, the headline isn't misleading. 🤷

timeisnotaline · 15/12/2019 03:10

She didn’t write the headline and it’s mostly accurate anyway. Why not save your criticisms for someone not giving away part of their salary instead of slagging her off for not doing enough?

QueenOfCatan · 15/12/2019 03:15

I thought that too. It's not really a workers wage either, if it were actually £35k before tax it would be more realistic. I do think its admirable to donate a large amount of your salary, but it is misleading to say it is comparable to the average worker.

AgentProvocateur · 15/12/2019 03:20

How much of your salary do you donate, @SarahH12?

Walkaround · 15/12/2019 03:21

Oh, ffs. Find something worthy of criticism to criticise - like the journalist who wrote the article, not the person who I suspect is giving away far more than you would be willing to.

SpoonBlender · 15/12/2019 03:21

The article itself says four lines in "The basic annual salary for an MP from April 1 2019 before tax is £79,468 - with Whittome planning to take home £35,000 after tax."

There's no puzzle here.

The headline is toss, but what sort of a surprise is that to us all, particularly after the shitshow the media has presented over the last, I dunno, thirty years?

Pixxie7 · 15/12/2019 04:35

It’s a shame all of them don’t do the same.

ElluesPichulobu · 15/12/2019 05:12

the headline isn't misleading it is entirely accurate.

it's reasonable for her to highlight the excessivness of MPs salaries in this way, it's reasonable for her to keep a chunk more than she would get on a nurse's wage as she will do a better job for her constituents if she isn't struggling to pay the bills. she has not claimed to be giving half to charity.

imo MPs salary should be fixed at the rate that higher rate tax kicks in. the higher rate tax threshold being in principle, the salary at which all basics and some additional comforts of life are generously provided for and any amount over this can only be spent on unnecessary luxuries.

Original poster
SarahH12 · 15/12/2019 07:26

The headline heavily implies she is giving away half her salary. She's not. Most of that is compulsory. Going by the comments on the article a lot of people think she's giving 44k to charity when she's giving nowhere near.

She specifically mentions nurses and firemen. If she genuinely felt that way she'd be taking home what an actual nurse takes home. Most of us (as in general workers, not just those of us who work for the NHS) don't earn anywhere near 35k.

OP posts:
Original poster
SarahH12 · 15/12/2019 07:27

I like your idea @ElluesPichulobu about the cap.

OP posts:
HigherFurtherFasterBaby · 15/12/2019 07:32

She’s my local MP, I voted for her, (as did 64% of the area) she’s very young, BAME, and is, actually, rather kick ass.

Fr0g · 15/12/2019 07:34

Did you stand for election OP?
if you did, i can see why you didn't get elected, but if you had, you'd have had a salary of £79k, and could've been telling us who/what you were donating £39.5k to.
And also be getting used to the fact that the media sometimes go for attention-grabbing inaccurate headlines.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 15/12/2019 07:37

YABU I don’t reference my salary as the net amount- I earn the gross amount. The nit picking is painful!

Original poster
SarahH12 · 15/12/2019 07:37

@Fr0g it's not just the headline though. Like I said, if she genuinely cared about taking a "worker's" wage she would be giving away a heck of a lot more. There's nothing to be gained by sharing she is giving away that money to charity other than to make herself look better.

OP posts:
Baldcrusader · 15/12/2019 07:41

Fair play to her. My only issue is her usage of politician speak "lessons to be learned" and all that.

If only more of Labour put their own money where their mouth is, the result could have been different.

NagaisAce · 15/12/2019 07:43

OP. In the spirit of Christmas, and basic humanity, you really would be a happier person if you tried to find the good in people and the things they do rather than criticize. She is a young person who has become an MP and wants to highlight the plight of others and actually try and do something about it.
Not just be a keyboard warrior.

Sandaled · 15/12/2019 07:47

This is getting ridiculous now. I think it's wonderful what she is doing, but she is still getting criticized? Shame on you OP, it's never enough is it.

Santasleftboot · 15/12/2019 07:49

Nit picking

IrishMamaMia · 15/12/2019 07:55

Biscuit have my first

Santasleftboot · 15/12/2019 07:58

She specifically mentions nurses and firemen. If she genuinely felt that way she'd be taking home what an actual nurse takes home. Most of us (as in general workers, not just those of us who work for the NHS) don't earn anywhere near 35k.

I'm a Band 5 nurse in the Northwest and get £30,000 per year - if I had London weighting for Inner London it would be £36,000.

Perhaps check on your facts before starting a goady thread. It would go a lot better for you. Xmas Grin