In the last Parliament I had a policy of not accepting gifts or paid for hospitality at sporting events or expensive concerts. I did not ask for or receive payments for articles and media appearances about U.K. politics. I paid for my own clothes and entertainment and for my own election leaflets in 2019.
An MP is on £92,000 a year and does qualify for expenses when living away from home to do a job which requires you to work both in Parliament and in the constituency. I find it difficult to know why an MP would think it a good idea to accept the gift of expensive clothes when it is bound to lead to a huge debate about the suitability of them and the motives of the donor. It is also debatable whether accepting invitations to expensive entertainments is wise.
Clearly if you are Prime Minister or a Cabinet member then some great events require your presence as office holder. A PM should be seen at a major sporting final with a U.K. competitor. A culture Secretary needs to attend a wide range of events to take an interest in the sector.A Foreign Secretary needs to do plenty of international travel and attend grand events. An MP should attend Remembrance Day and other civic occasions in his or her official capacity if invited.
We are not debating official and accepted roles and support, but discussing how some MPs pursue personal pleasures in a privileged way, getting a freebie because of their office but not undertaking an official duty at it.
Different and tighter rules apply to Ministers than to MPs.Ministers make decisions. Many people want to influence them, either in a specific case like a grant of a licence or planning permission they need, or in a general tax or regulatory change they would benefit from. I remember as a Cabinet. minister being invited to join rich people on their expensive boats in the Mediterranean with flights paid to join them. I used to reply that I was busy as a Cabinet Minister so could not join them but would be pleased to be invited when I was no longer in the cabinet. Although they assured me they were not just inviting me because of my position I got no updated invites once I left the government.
A Minister of course compromises themselves if they accept expensive leisure activities with rich people. A Minister also invites suspicion if they meet and wine and dine with leading billionaires without coming clean if the billionaire influenced them to support their drive for net zero or vaccination or more EU or whatever global cause they are promoting.
Rich people tend to press Ministers to do what the governing elites of the world and the international treaties require. The elites usually get what they want without financing the leading politicians, because the whole net zero ,world health and wars approach is baked in anyway by international law and international get togethers anyway.
September 21, 2024
Good morning.
It is not just rich people, the EU is famous for it and, not just to non-EU government appointees, but also EU members and Euro MP’s. The pay, the expenses and the benefits are said to be vary generous. Which is deliberate as they (EU) are in fact, buying favour with those people own money.
Today things are a little different. With so much power and decision making moving to Supranational bodies and various national (eg OFWAT & OBR) and international regulators (eg WHO & IMF) it is clear that money will follow in that direction.
September 21, 2024
It would appear that many members, with especial reference to the PM and his wife, have stepped on an armed bear trap. There are common sense rules if you wish to avoid being compromised as you explain. There seems to be a dirth of common sense in this Labour government. From outside it is particularly gauling if you care to imagine the furore they would have stired up against their predecessors, which they did at every opportunity. Blatant hypochracy comes to mind.
A thought that has not as yet been considered, at least by all the commentariat, what are the tax implications of all this largesse. Has it all been declared as benefits in kind? (Etc Ed)Is it just MPs who enjoy a waver, unavailable to those of us in times past who tried to run businnesses.
On a more positive note, I hope everyone enjoyed the positivity emmanating from the Reform Party Conference yesterday. I enjoyed the oppening twirl of spectacles and comment in Nigel’s rousing speach. It had all the qualities of the one pre Agincourt. My only caution is that he might not have a full five years to put the building blocks of electoral success in place before this ragbag of a government have to call it a day.
September 21, 2024
The venal behaviour of the PM and, it is now admitted, his Deputy PM and Chancellor of the Exchequer is breath taking. It makes the notorious duck house, of the MPs expenses scandal, look like small beer in comparison. Although rumbled on the acceptance of expensive clothes, they seem to be quite ready to continue to accept other expensive freebies.
Your position was echoed the other day by Jacob Rees Mogg when he said he did not accept gifts as an MP or Minister. As he succinctly put it, where there’s a tip there’s a tap, or words to that effect.
Reply The duck house was not paid for either by taxpayers or a rich donor, but by the MP himself. He enquired about an expenses claim and was rightly turned down.