AIBU to think they carve out these people's moral cores at birth and replace them with rocks?

[EllieSattler]

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tory-mp-salary-peter-bottomley-b1933668.html%3famp

This man was happy to cut Universal Credit yet 'only' lives on £82k us expenses plus his wife (Virginia Bottomley) earns loads from various gigs and they have no young kids or caring responsibilities to eat into their cash. Dickhead.

YABU for judging his wife and their parental status, which has nothing to do with how he voted and the statement he made.

No need for that about his wife!

How do they cope ? Diddums eh ?
.. ffs !! Didn't mention the numerous expenses they get either.

I do think it was a little daft to say that this week.

But he is not paying the country’s Universal Credit bill from his personal salary.
He has to decide what WE can afford as taxpayers, to pay out in Universal Credit benefits to all claimants. So his salary is totally irrelevant.

My sil ( tory voter ) always says ' they could earn more in the private sector '
Why don't they then?

I think as long as MPs are voting to freeze public sector pay they should be included in that - no, it wont fund pay rises for the public sector, but it is time they literally put their money where their mouth is. It is highly unethical of them to be taking more money when they are restricting so much for other people.

@Babdoc

But he is not paying the country’s Universal Credit bill from his personal salary. He has to decide what WE can afford as taxpayers, to pay out in Universal Credit benefits to all claimants. So his salary is totally irrelevant.

But he is also, specifically trying to influence what taxpayers can afford/ should pay out in MP salaries. Which, surprise surprise, is much much higher. But he chose to publicly give an opinion that 82K a year is "grim". So he's a hypocrite.

Today 10:23 the80sweregreat

My sil ( tory voter ) always says ' they could earn more in the private sector '
Why don't they then?“

Because they would have to work considerably harder than the average backbencher does.

(I worked both for an MP and in the private sector.)

The PR there is shocking, yes.

On a personal level, I get why he feels that though. People always compare themselves to their immediate peers. This guy has no fucking clue what it's like to live on UC, no one he knows is anywhere close to that.

However some awareness and empathy raising sessions should be being organised by the party if they want to avoid damaging media like this.

I think MPs should have a lower salary.
The point of being an MP is that you want to represent your people, therefore you should be living on the basic salary of your people.

Expenses should be scrapped too.

Danikm151

I think MPs should have a lower salary.
The point of being an MP is that you want to represent your people, therefore you should be living on the basic salary of your people.

Expenses should be scrapped too“

Don’t be silly. How is an MP in the Highlands, living on average wage, supposed to fund the requirement to be in Westminster when parliament’s in session.

@gardeninggirl68

No need for that about his wife!

Its not a slur on his wife, partners income is considered in UC assessments.

Its sick that he bleats about his (household) income being 'grim' when he'll happily vote to take money from the working poor. Genuinely poor people, not people who have had to cancel their premium wine subscription or drop their cleaners hours a bit.

@Danikm151

I think MPs should have a lower salary. The point of being an MP is that you want to represent your people, therefore you should be living on the basic salary of your people.

Expenses should be scrapped too.

So how do you think they are going to do all the things they need to do as an MP - run and staff a constituency office, hold surgeries so they can better represent their people, travel back and forth to Parliament so they can represent their people there too?

My local mp is useless - does not represent anyone, does not get anything done, unavailable - they should be paid or replaced on performance!

it's not about how much they get. I think that's fine - and expenses for office costs is also fine.

I can even hack a (with a ceiling) amount for a 2nd "home" if their constituency is too far from London for a daily commute.

39 quid breakfasts? not so much - i would like the woman from our expenses department to do the expenses for MPs.

What is absolutely appalling about this is:
a) his voting record on anything to do with welfare
b) the fact he said this on the very day the UC uplift was abolished.

it is tone-deaf at best.

He has to decide what WE can afford as taxpayers, to pay out in Universal Credit benefits to all claimants. So his salary is totally irrelevant.

Verginia, is that you?

@Brefugee yes, that is exactly what I mean but much better expressed.

Note MPs salaries have gone up almost 25% in the last decade. What other public sector group can say their wages have gone up so much in comparison with inflation?

Virginia Bottomley was also an MP, a corporate headhunter and gained a peerage.

As total household income is used to calculate UC, the economic status of both earners is absolutely relevant.