Comments on: MPs’ pay again http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2008/05/27/mps-pay-again/ Incisive and topical campaigns and commentary on today's issues and tomorrow's problems Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:18:17 +0000 hourly 1 By: Provincial John http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2008/05/27/mps-pay-again/#comment-3595 Provincial John Sat, 31 May 2008 10:53:53 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=1100#comment-3595 Sir, When payment of MPs began in 1911, the aim was simple: to stop working men from being unfairly excluded through want of means. What nobody intended was to create a body of professional politicians living off the public purse, entitled to an upper middle class way of life and the perks of middle management. Parliament worked at least as well with unpaid MPs serving for the honour of it as it does with the rather part-time members of today. Sir,

When payment of MPs began in 1911, the aim was simple: to stop working men from being unfairly excluded through want of means. What nobody intended was to create a body of professional politicians living off the public purse, entitled to an upper middle class way of life and the perks of middle management. Parliament worked at least as well with unpaid MPs serving for the honour of it as it does with the rather part-time members of today.

]]> By: Abused Taxpayer http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2008/05/27/mps-pay-again/#comment-3594 Abused Taxpayer Wed, 28 May 2008 16:20:10 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=1100#comment-3594 John, Before MPs start awarding themselves a new pay and allowances package, there are some clear pre-requisites if a degree of trust and legitimacy is to be restored: (a) a radical overhaul of the Fees Office - employ some professional accountants and book-keepers and put in place an expenses management regime which is commensurate with the amount of public money being spent. The PAC would be extremely critical of the operation of the Fees Office if it were outsie of Parliament. (b) create and publish a clear set of rules for MPs expenses and allowances, which are in keeping with the rules enforced by HMRC on any salaried employee (e.g. approx £5 allowable for incidental expenses not £25, limits on AHCA, etc). This would for example stop the abuse of the system by the Keens - their home is within commuting distance of Parliament, why should they claim AHCA - HMRC would not tolerate this for a non-MP. (c) adopt the same procedure as the Scottish Parliament and publish all expense/allowance claims on a publicly available website. (d) put in place a rigorous disciplinary mechanism - if MPs abuse the system it is fraud - treat it as such. BTW enforcement should be on the basis of spirit and letter of the rules, i.e exploitation of loopholes will not be condoned. These steps would go along way towards providing a degree of accountability and transparency and starting to restore the trust which has so patently been lost. John,
Before MPs start awarding themselves a new pay and allowances package, there are some clear pre-requisites if a degree of trust and legitimacy is to be restored:
(a) a radical overhaul of the Fees Office – employ some professional accountants and book-keepers and put in place an expenses management regime which is commensurate with the amount of public money being spent. The PAC would be extremely critical of the operation of the Fees Office if it were outsie of Parliament.
(b) create and publish a clear set of rules for MPs expenses and allowances, which are in keeping with the rules enforced by HMRC on any salaried employee (e.g. approx £5 allowable for incidental expenses not £25, limits on AHCA, etc). This would for example stop the abuse of the system by the Keens – their home is within commuting distance of Parliament, why should they claim AHCA – HMRC would not tolerate this for a non-MP.
(c) adopt the same procedure as the Scottish Parliament and publish all expense/allowance claims on a publicly available website.
(d) put in place a rigorous disciplinary mechanism – if MPs abuse the system it is fraud – treat it as such. BTW enforcement should be on the basis of spirit and letter of the rules, i.e exploitation of loopholes will not be condoned.
These steps would go along way towards providing a degree of accountability and transparency and starting to restore the trust which has so patently been lost.

]]> By: Mark Cannon http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2008/05/27/mps-pay-again/#comment-3593 Mark Cannon Wed, 28 May 2008 16:07:55 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=1100#comment-3593 Your colleague who has asked for the addresses of judges is being childish and silly. Just because he objects to the provisino of MP's addresses, it does not follow that judges should publish theirs. That is just childish And it is silly too because judges need to keep their addresses private: there are plenty of angry villains who would like to know where they live. And judges do not get second houses paid for out of tax-free allowances. It is because the taxpayer pays for MPs second homes that the details of what is being claimed should be made public. I would have hoped that all Conserviative MPs would have realised by now that the voters are not happy with MPs obtaining substantial sums of taxpayers money by way of allowances and then trying to cover up the details. Your colleague who has asked for the addresses of judges is being childish and silly.

Just because he objects to the provisino of MP's addresses, it does not follow that judges should publish theirs. That is just childish

And it is silly too because judges need to keep their addresses private: there are plenty of angry villains who would like to know where they live. And judges do not get second houses paid for out of tax-free allowances. It is because the taxpayer pays for MPs second homes that the details of what is being claimed should be made public.

I would have hoped that all Conserviative MPs would have realised by now that the voters are not happy with MPs obtaining substantial sums of taxpayers money by way of allowances and then trying to cover up the details.

]]> By: David Eyles http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2008/05/27/mps-pay-again/#comment-3592 David Eyles Wed, 28 May 2008 11:50:24 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=1100#comment-3592 Alan of England - thank you for that link. I have scanned that list very quickly. Unfortunately, as with everything else I have looked at, the list is incomplete, although it contains some quangos that other lists don't. For instance, look up <a href="http://www.foodfrombritain.com," rel="nofollow">www.foodfrombritain.com,</a> click onto Regional food producers and then "regions" and then watch the names of 17 other mini quangos spring up like asparagus in May. The regional governments and local authorities are all sources of these additional quangos. EU funding to the regions also produces more. There seems to be no end to it....... Alan of England – thank you for that link. I have scanned that list very quickly. Unfortunately, as with everything else I have looked at, the list is incomplete, although it contains some quangos that other lists don't.

For instance, look up http://www.foodfrombritain.com, click onto Regional food producers and then "regions" and then watch the names of 17 other mini quangos spring up like asparagus in May. The regional governments and local authorities are all sources of these additional quangos. EU funding to the regions also produces more. There seems to be no end to it…….

]]> By: mikestallard http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2008/05/27/mps-pay-again/#comment-3591 mikestallard Wed, 28 May 2008 07:09:09 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=1100#comment-3591 As the power of parliament leeches away into Europe, so the excessive pay of MPs becomes more and more ridiculous. We, the ordinary people, want you to be one of us - not one of them. As the power of parliament leeches away into Europe, so the excessive pay of MPs becomes more and more ridiculous.
We, the ordinary people, want you to be one of us – not one of them.

]]> By: Mike Law http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2008/05/27/mps-pay-again/#comment-3590 Mike Law Tue, 27 May 2008 23:39:12 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=1100#comment-3590 The whole system would be much more transparent if: 1/ Any property purchased by an MP which enables her/him to carry out her/his parliamentary duties should be handed back to the state once that MP is no longer in office (that is if the MP has been claiming expenses against the mortgage payments etc. for that property). The property could then either be sold and the money be used to purchase another property for the next MP for that constituency should they need one, or the property could be handed over to the new MP. 2/ A nett financial asset limit should be set with regards to those MPs who do wish to claim for payments against second properties. In my view, if a MP has a assets portfolio above £3 million he or she has the means to buy or rent a decent second property without the assistance of the state. However, should an MP be in such a position and they do purchase a property in their constituency or London and they find that, once they end their tenure as a MP, the value of the property has fallen, they should be compensated for the loss. This would not apply to those who already owned such property prior to becoming an MP. The whole system would be much more transparent if:

1/ Any property purchased by an MP which enables her/him to carry out her/his parliamentary duties should be handed back to the state once that MP is no longer in office (that is if the MP has been claiming expenses against the mortgage payments etc. for that property). The property could then either be sold and the money be used to purchase another property for the next MP for that constituency should they need one, or the property could be handed over to the new MP.

2/ A nett financial asset limit should be set with regards to those MPs who do wish to claim for payments against second properties. In my view, if a MP has a assets portfolio above £3 million he or she has the means to buy or rent a decent second property without the assistance of the state.

However, should an MP be in such a position and they do purchase a property in their constituency or London and they find that, once they end their tenure as a MP, the value of the property has fallen, they should be compensated for the loss. This would not apply to those who already owned such property prior to becoming an MP.

]]> By: AlanofEngland http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2008/05/27/mps-pay-again/#comment-3589 AlanofEngland Tue, 27 May 2008 21:01:25 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=1100#comment-3589 There are allegedly 1132 "agencies", committees, boards and councils spending your hard earned money on a monumental pile of reports, studies, papers and consultation documents, a vast array of which never see the real light of day. The Taxpayers Alliance, independent campaigners for lower taxes, revealed the ugly truth about Britain’s “hidden state” this week, pointing out that even the Government finds it too large and diverse to manage. There are allegedly 1132 "agencies", committees, boards and councils spending your hard earned money on a monumental pile of reports, studies, papers and consultation documents, a vast array of which never see the real light of day. The Taxpayers Alliance, independent campaigners for lower taxes, revealed the ugly truth about Britain’s “hidden state” this week, pointing out that even the Government finds it too large and diverse to manage.

]]> By: AlanofEngland http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2008/05/27/mps-pay-again/#comment-3588 AlanofEngland Tue, 27 May 2008 20:55:13 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=1100#comment-3588 <a href="http://quangos.ercouncil.org/search/" rel="nofollow">http://quangos.ercouncil.org/search/</a> Every quango in the UK is listed here.... http://quangos.ercouncil.org/search/

Every quango in the UK is listed here….

]]> By: AlanofEngland http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2008/05/27/mps-pay-again/#comment-3587 AlanofEngland Tue, 27 May 2008 20:50:59 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=1100#comment-3587 How many Quangos were there in each year since 1998? Year # of Quangos 2006 524 2005 546 2004 518 2003 517 2002 555 2001 526 2000 537 1999 563 1998 692 <a href="http://quangos.ercouncil.org/faq/answer,0,1,0,0,0_quangos_economic_research_council.html" rel="nofollow">http://quangos.ercouncil.org/faq/answer,0,1,0,0,0...</a> How many Quangos were there in each year since 1998?
Year # of Quangos
2006 524
2005 546
2004 518
2003 517
2002 555
2001 526
2000 537
1999 563
1998 692
http://quangos.ercouncil.org/faq/answer,0,1,0,0,0…

]]> By: Drew Belobaba http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2008/05/27/mps-pay-again/#comment-3586 Drew Belobaba Tue, 27 May 2008 19:42:49 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=1100#comment-3586 I note with approval that members of the General Court of New Hampshire - the state legislature are paid $100 per year, and get a few persk such as free travel on toll roads. I note with approval that members of the General Court of New Hampshire – the state legislature are paid $100 per year, and get a few persk such as free travel on toll roads.

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