Most liked posts in thread: Owen Paterson.

anything to comment on this stuff @Tony Wilkinson? Anything tory and it's hard to shut you up normally!

 

I’ve said it before. We could do with another expenses type scandal. Maybe this is it. I mean, how the hell can that Tory MP legitimately claim he’s representing his constituents by working for a foreign government in another country, he can’t. No doubt we can expect some stories about migrants and/or some sabre rattling about France to keep this off the front pages soon. It’ll probably work too.

 

They can't but if you're allowed second jobs then there's nothing up with it. They rules are basically saying you don't need to be working for your constituents for 100% of your working time.

But this is the issue with digging through it and making it look widespread. They've gone from lobbying (which is bad) to finding people who used their Commons meeting rooms or Parliamentary stationary while doing the second jobs that they're allowed to have. While it's a technical breach of the rules it comes across like they're trying to get people in trouble for using the wrong paperclips and losing sight of the actual major issue.

 

I can imagine my bosses response if I asked or was caught conducting another company’s business on my bosses premises. It’s not normal. Stop trying put them up on a pedestal as something special. Plus you’re skirting round that he was voting and supposedly doing work
constituency work whilst residing in the Virgin Islands. That’s fine.

 

It's not normal and I don't like it. If a party said they were going to stop MPs having second jobs it would move me closer to voting for them.

It's not about having them on a pedestal though, they're simply allowed to do it.

There's a world of difference between them breaking the rules (the real rules, not the ones about not using parliamentary pens) and them adhering to rules we don't like.

 

It was always clear that one of the significant motivators behind Brexit for some Tory MPs was to dodge the EU clampdown on tax evasion.

 

Another reason why we never get anywhere with these types of scandals. Not everything is about Brexit,

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/50168357

https://fullfact.org/online/brexit-not-concealing-offshore-accounts/

Unless we actually know what Cox was doing - and unless it was wrong - then the issue seems to be him using his Parlimentary workspace which I'm not sure links to Brexit in any way.

 

that is genuinely the most serious thing i think you've ever said on here that isn't trying to wind someone up, fair play and i agree pretty much entirely although I don't think they need more money, 82k plus expenses should be enough to attract a calibre of person decent enough to represent people fairly.

 

I honestly don't do 'wind up', I just say out loud what others think...

 

Bargain.

 

Do you even need a butler..?

 

Do politicians go into the job for the pay or for the extra activities it brings? Or do they go into it to make a difference?
If it’s the latter they are the right people

 

Nobody goes into it just for the latter, it's idealistic. There's a million easier ways to make a difference with much less stress and sometimes even better pay.

Even if they did, and those individuals would do it for minimum wage, they're unlikely to be the most capable candidates. It's weird to think that politicians are completely separate to the rest of the workforce and driven by different factors.

 

Correct , but the salary " package " is poor . the old saying pay peanuts etc etc . We need the best brains in the country to steer us through the current mess . Maybe the best brains from all sides of the Political spectrum . Despite the current Governments unpopularity Labour can't make inroads into the 80 seat majority . That speaks voluums of the current crop of " options " available in Westminster .

 

Me too, but if you want to improve on that level of skills and experience then you need to improve the pay not diminish it.

To be fair as a headteacher you only need to have good oratory skills and talk bullshit! However I would actually like a system where people who got to the top of their professions went into politics to apply that knowledge, skills and experience more widely. That's a million times more valuable than career politicians who have no wider experience of climbing ladders except the bullshit based one that they do.

 

I've not mentioned big business at all to be fair.

But yeah, if a successful businessman wanted to move into politics then the wage structure should make that possible too.

 

This rant is just pure, blind anti-BBC prejudice. The BBC will pay market rates for celebrity presenters, just as every other broadcasting organisation does.
You happen to think that the presenters you quoted are 'mediocre', but that's just your personal taste, filtered through your obvious anti-BBC bias. Millions of people really like these individuals and they wouldn't be paid those sorts of sums if they were unpopular.