Yet another example of Gordon Brown's spite

[longfingernailspaintedblue]

If there is anything which encapsulates what a bitter and vindictive man Gordon Brown truly was, then surely it is this?

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/7805707/Gordon-Brown-accepts-a-pay-cut-for-David-Camero n.html

I agree with cutting the Prime Minister's salary - but of course Gordon Brown didn't have the courage to cut his own salary, only David Cameron's.

CarlaBruni

The House of Commons no longer decide on the MP part of their pay - that is set independently.

I agree that MPs salary should not be set by MPs - why not stop these arguments forever and do the same thing for ministers.

However, IPSA is a farce. It is a very expensive way of regulating expenses. It is a typical example of quangocracy, complete with multiple press officers.

All that we really need is to give every MP a credit card from which all their purchases must be made - and then put the credit card bills and receipts in full online. No great fuss or expense, no press officers, no fees office - and no MP would take the piss with expenses, because everyone would be able to see everything. IPSA is a typical Labour solution to the expenses crisis - more regulation.

oh, is that all. Just three houses plus a mansion and a guaranteed income from now on in. he is really cutting his cloth/tightening his belt/facing hard times. poor guy.

don't forget that he doesn't own these houses. He won't be able to flip them. The state owns them, and they are often used to entertain foreign dignitaries. He is the Prime Minister of the country and just like Gordon Brown, he has to have residences that reflect well on the country when meeting foreign leaders.

I do think we have too many grace-and-favour mansions, but obviously there have to be some. Some of them could easily be sold off though, or at least opened to tourists during the summer.

The problem with asset sales is that they are one off - once you've sold something, you can't sell it off again! Whereas the deficit is annual, and the debt keeps growing. Asset sales will help in the short-term but in the medium and long term we will need to balance the budget in a sustainable way.

What is wrong with 'The Holiday Inn' or another local hotel for a meeting? It did for my work a few months ago. Nice, clean, fit for purpose. He wouldnt have to go far back home to No.10 afterwards and if he had a drink it would be an inexpensive cab ride too. The officials can pay thier own expenses for their hotels.

Longfingernails, thats a funny thought...credit cards. just imagine though, where do you draw the line.
I mean, what say about food for entertaining officials from abroad? Would they be slammed for going to waitrose? would we make them go to lidls?

legoStuckinmyHoover I think forcing them to use hotels for foreign meetings would probably be a cut too far. I can't see foreign presidents being too impressed with having to go to the Holiday Inn!

If a meeting at Chequers brings in a billion pound trade deal to Britain then it is worth it.

As for the credit cards - well at the moment MPs have to pay for their stationary, phone bills, etc out of their own pocket I think - and then get reimbursed. The credit card idea would be more convenient for MPs, and cheaper to administer and more transparent than IPSA.

Argh stationery not stationary! I blame the sun!

stationary? do you mean we pay for their felt tips and biro pens? like i said i like the credit card idea. make them go to lidl for food and poundland for stationary. No, actually on second thoughts, none of that stuff be reimbursed at all.

Of course we pay for their stationery.

An MP has to deal with tens of thousands of letters, emails, and phone calls. Do you really think they should pay for all the office costs out of their salary?

longfingernails, are you Carol Thatcher?

I don't think you're Sam Cam or Edwina Currie...

BelleDameSansMerci

To my eternal shame, I once actually voted for Tony Blair!

LOL! Now that makes me like you despite your post. Rats. I hate it when that happens

Not because you voted for him but because you have the integrity to admit it!

how strange. I have an HM Government credit card, and I'm not nearly as important as an MP. Why do you think they don't get one?

Or maybe they do?

oh no, i assumed that most of those things would already be taken care of, not out of their own pocket but through an amount already pre-determined [eg: each mp's office given a sum to spend on xyz and then an order is put in for those items] and then they budget for everything and eek it out over the financial year and try to make it last.

so ok, but everything else they should pay for themselves-like moats, new kitchens, and toasters etc. thats fair.

WhatFreshHellIsThis MPs have been complaining about being out of pocket under the new IPSA regime.

Here is an anonymous Labour MP advocating the credit card system instead of IPSA

www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2010/may/21/mps-expenses-unite-surly-term

Here is David Winnick speaking out against IPSA

www.thisiswalsallonline.co.uk/news/MP-wants-review-new-Commons-expenses/article-2259130-detail/artic le.html

Jim Sheridan had complained that he needed to use his overdraft to fund his expenses before they were claimed

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8705016.stm

Hmmm... But, for a lot of us, we have to claim our out of pocket expenses retrospectively. I have a company credit card but I still incur some quite high expenses that are not paid for on that card (and the limit is shockingly low so I often have to use my own anyway). I have to use my overdraft too.

I'm unclear why MPs feel they are "special" and deserve to be treated differently from the rest of the working population.

ok so apart from the stationery, the houses, the cleaners, the gardeners, the food, the alcohol, the bath plugs, the duck houses, the moats, what have the MPs ever paid for themselves?

should be
what have the MPs ever claimed off us?

BelleDameSansMerci

Well, in many ways, I agree that IPSA has been a wake-up call to our MPs.

We all hate being on the phone and being put on hold. We all hate filling out forms. We all hate fiddly little transactions.

Now they too have some pointless bureaucracy in their lives. They get some idea of the drudgery their constituents have to go through every day.

But the solution must surely be to make life easier for everyone - not to make their life harder!

What a hypocrite - great that he took a paycut, but hypocrite to wait until he was about to loose the election. Don't feel sorry for DC though.

re: the other points, the gap between rich and poor has got bigger under labour than under any previous administration.