To think MPs are underpaid

[Donotpanicoknowpanic]

Okay hear me out on this

If you want high quality people you need to pay them

If not the best most intelligent people will pursue career's in business and we will be left with people making second rate decisions which are incredibly important for the UK

The UK needs to make the right decisions on a whole host of important topics (not just the NHS and benefits)

But policy's on AI, transitions to green energy encouraging businesses to invest in the UK etc

These are serious topics that require a vast knowledge to understand

If you want to encourage people who have that knowledge to be an MP and help make those decisions

You need to pay them the rate they would get from businesses who also want them

(I am not an MP and will never run as one so no one please say I'm trying to get a pay rise)

Perhaps pay is only one issue

Maybe a different system for electing members

At the moment we get a leaflet before the election that discusses the individual MPs achievements and why we should vote for them

But ultimately most people vote for the party...aka the leader

But then we would probably not have our own individual MPs if we could vote differently

The only people I would allow to retain second jobs would be those who need to maintain a certain level of presence for professional standards, such as health care professionals or educators (and even then on a vastly reduced schedule).

The risks have always been there for politicians also? Assassinations of political leaders/politicians has been a 'thing' since the dawn of politics - it's a risk they take, the same as you do when entering the AF or Police Force. Why should a politician be paid more for his 'risk' than a soldier does when it is that very politician who will have a say on where that soldier goes?

MPs, like all of us prior to undertaking a new role are aware of what their pay will be prior to running for election, they are aware of the risks. If they don't think it's worth it, simply don't go for that job.

I know right! Sometimes Mumsnet is so far removed from the real world it's hilarious! 91k a low salary??? Fucking hell, check out what the average salary is !! And how many people actually live on 30k , a third of an mps salary, or less!

I'm not sure that MPs make much of a difference, the quality people we need in Givn are the high-level civil servants, Those are the ones who make things happen and those are the people we should be paying so much too that they never feel it is worthwhile to take a bribe/bung/gift to risk their salary for.

Exactly it's a job where you barely touch your wage as everything else is expensed.

I’ve thought this for a long time. Not just from the point of view of not being enough to attract he best people, but also that we get a lot of people who come from family money and don’t actually need to live off the salary, but have a vested interest in controlling politics to keep the rich rich.

Yes he did Sugarflub
google jane street salaries

They are absolutely underpaid.

I think if you include all their expenses, it's not too bad. And I get they could be out of a job after 5 years due to not being re elected, but no job is for life anymore. I also agree that second jobs should not be allowed. They are being paid for doing a full time job. There shouldn't be time for doing another on the side, unless it's keeping your hand in your original profession ( eg doctor). It's a full on job and there should be proper renumeration. But with that should come clearer rules about what is and what isn't acceptable. Once elected, an MP should be representing all of their constituents, not just those that voted for them. I wonder if the people of Clacton are getting good value for money.

Personally I do think MPs are underpaid and should maybe be on something like 250k.
However all MPs should be banned from having second jobs, property portfolios and cannot receive income from lobbiests. In addition second home allowances should be scrapped and instead purpose built apartments should be made available to MPs near Westminster as too many MPs exploit the second home allowance for profit.
In addition ministers should be banned from working in any industry that was in their portfolio for 5 years after they lose that post or stop being MPs as there is a direct conflict of interest there.

In addition, all MPs should have a probationary period during which time they have to pass a security clearance check. I find it shocking that when I worked for the Bank of England everyone, no matter what their role, had to be SC cleared, but there are no checks at all on incoming MPs who have unbelievably privileged access to information.

Fix their income to 3 times the average salary, more for ministers. Build a hotel that they can stay in while in London so no second home allowances. No more employing family members.

No outside work whatsoever. They should either be in parliament or working for their constituency.

Just because they're not in the chamber doesn't mean they're not working. Sir Trevor McDonald didn't just get paid for 30 mins reading the news each night. There's a huge amount of unseen work carried out too.

They not only get their salary but expenses as well, and those mount up.

If they had some sort of vision for the country and could implement it as opposed to flailing around doing anything they can to get high approval ratings and votes I might agree with you.

Anyway 30p Lee only needs about £1.20 a day to eat so I don't see increasing his salary would be necessary.

The additions are for things associated with their job: secretarial and research sjlllry, stationery, utilities, rent (for constituency offices), second homes necessary for the discharge of their jobs. It’s not free money for nothing.

research *support (fat fingers, sorry)

genuinely - would you do that job?

I wouldn’t, and couldn’t, because I’m a single parent with grandparent and sick relative caring responsibilities as well as kids.

Your system is great if you want a chamber made up of 90% privileged, male representatives.

Says someone who knows nothing about how parliament works.

Cheers nippy person.

On the security issue, in the 2015 parliament one MP was murdered (Jo Cox, by a white supremacist). David Amess more recently.

could be statistical anomalies but on the other
had, there are only 650 of them in situ at any one time.

let’s not forget the non fatal
attempts over time, too.

They are not underpaid at all and they get a their expenses paid as well.

there is a huge amount of disinformation about what MPs (and any other public figures like civil servants etc) ‘cream off’ the state. What do you think MPs (not ministers, just regular MPs) are netting every month in take home from being an MP?

I’m just hearing my aunty Maureen and her Daily Mail vibes.

Definitely not daily mail vibes from me .
Dyed in the wool Labour voter for 40 years.

Further up thread there was a list of what could be claimed and it was quite a nice list if you had access to it.