On corruption – there is no doubt at all that the majority of MPs are corrupt crooks. Either they start out like that or they get corrupted. There are some honest ones of course – but a tiny minority. Corbyn was one name I had in mind and I was wondering if Rayban could bring himself to praise him 🙂

Mhari Black is another

The overt bribary is now much less than it was but its dressed up as ” consultancy fees” ” speaking engagements” ” Staffing support” ” non executive directorships”or the promise of lucrative jobs once voted out or retire

Does anyone here really think the £50 000 to Johnson for a speech was anything but a naked bribe? How about Gove ( I think it was ) getting several thousand pounds an hour in pay from a company?

No – How about Cleggs job with facebook – note there was opportunity to reign in the internet giants during the coalition but it was not taken. Thats an overt payment for sdeeds done.

And so it goes. Balls and ~Cooper – corrupt as hell buying two london houses on expenses Far too many of them do this – enrich themselves at our expense by lying

Then we have all the paid lobbyists who happen to be MPs – al those who are paid by speciual iterests toi make sure the briber gets favourable treatment

Open you eyes and look into it. Its a cesspit of criminality, corrruption and venal pursuit of money

There have been several reports on cleaning up this cesspit of corruption but none been enacted on. Note this from the committee charged with overseeing MPS

The Committee last considered the issue of MPs’ outside interests in it’s 2009 report, MPs’ Expenses and Allowances, at the request of the then Prime Minister. At that time, we recommended that MPs should be able to continue with outside employment, as long as any outside interests were within reasonable limits and there was transparency. However, these recommendations have not been fully acted upon by government and Parliament. Nine years on, this report provides an opportunity for Parliament to act to address this issue, and to prevent further erosion of public trust.

We recommend a package of important reforms to ensure that MPs’ outside interests remain within reasonable limits. We recommend a revision to the Code of Conduct for MPs, so that any outside roles, whether or not they are paid, do not prevent MPs from undertaking the range of duties expected of them in their primary role as an MP.

Sarah Wollaston Looks pretty squeeky clean. just the usual few thousands bunged herway

Ben Bradshaw the same although not even the usual few thousands. cleanest I have seen

TJ – are you OK, hun?

JP

Fair point.

While Nigel is a model of honest, trustworthy integrity with all our best interests at heart

TJ, the revolving door you refer to also applies to civil servants and senior MoD personnel.
ACOBA was set up to vet these sorts of moves and either approve or reject but have proved to be singularly inept in carrying out their remit.
MPs, generally, are no more venal than the general population – yes, I’m sure you can provide examples which suit your argument – so if the control process is almost non-existent it’s hardly surprising the revolving door continues revolving.
You know, as well as anyone else, that companies will always attempt to buy influence from MPs. Sort the process and apply rigorous controls.
Unless and until that happens nothing will change.
Cameron said the next big scandal would be lobbying – 100% correct – but failed to do anything to either prevent or control it.

IME MPs are much more venal than the people I know and have met. But then I do not move in right wing circles where venal behaviour is much more common 😉

TJ, the problem is that the ‘establishment’ has been allowed to almost self-regulate.
Develop proper controls and apply them rigorously with suitable punishment for transgressions.
Think of it like prima donna footie players challenging referees; if they were given straight red card – you’re off – and backed-up by refs association that would go a long way to eliminating the problem.
Simplistic but you get the point?

I’ve always thought that MPs should be paid more. It’s madness when the VC of a provincial university can easily be paid three times the salary of the PM.

I say a flat rate of 250K for an MP, but no expenses allowed. Far simpler, and would probably attract a higher calibre of person to the job.

JP

TJ – oops, you’re so wrong.
I absolutely do blame the ‘establishment’ for gaming the system – but we’ve made it easy for them.
Clear rules & regs, police them effectively, prosecute transgressions.
Suggest you look at my posts on various threads railing against ACOBA, MP’s total packages including heavily subsidised bars and restaurants.
I hate to say it but…..we could be agreeing violently.

Rusty^^ don’t be fooled; chewy is a faux geordie masquerading as a malay.
He’s probably whiter/more white than you or I.
Chewy is Farage – and I claim my fiver.

So, what I’m reading into this is that I should get elected as an MP, then profit?

Rusty – I don’t know; I definitely don’t dare to dream; shudder…….

MPs can only claim rent for their second properties. The great irony of the expenses scandal is that when you add the cost of new bureaucracy created to the expenses now claimed, it costs a lot more than the old system – purity always has a cost.

I say a flat rate of 250K for an MP, but no expenses allowed.

Doesn’t work, you need expenses otherwise the MP for Shetland and orkney (or anyone for a far distant constituency) is massively disadvantaged compared to say the MP for Maidenhead.

Just give them enough that it doesn’t really matter. If you’re paid enough then, say, the 40k difference between those close and those far away is fairly irrelevant proportionally.

JP

the 40k difference between those close and those far away is fairly irrelevant proportionally.

Unless you are the one that’s 40k down and then your lol why the f am I worth 40k less than that guy? I’ll make up the difference somehow!

Plus the whole pay them more and they won’t be as corrupt/will be better at the job thing has bee disproved. Never underestimate the human capacity for greed or venality

Just received my Lib Dem candidate flyer through the post.
I live in a con/LibDem area, so have no real choice but LibDem, however….grrrr
What the hell has happened to politics?
The entire letter is basically slagging off the conservatives, trawling up such nonsense as, “who would have imagined that the conservatives in Westminster would kick out winston Churchill’s own grandson, just because he had the audacity to disagree with leadership” wtf has that got to do with what you are offering my county and my country?
The letter just spouts similar playground twaddle until somewhere around the end, there are three lame, non committal bullet points about underfunded schools and plastic!
It’s embarrassing and shameful, I want to read about who the mp is, how passionate he is about his community and what the party is fighting for… it’s going to hurt ticking that idiots box

Mefty – are you sure they are no longer allowed to claim for buying a house on expenses?

While no job is guaranteed, an MP in anything but a safe seat has to think carefully and plan for when then are no longer an MP, i.e. possibly in a few weeks time. Going from £80K per year to nothing in a day means you have to be ready for it (via other interests).
To me the safe seat MPs can abuse things the most. My constituency has a horrible person as MP and the constituency next to mine has an even worse one yet they have been there for decades. They simply can’t fail.

On pying MPs – I disagree completely. they should not be highly paid at all.

I’m with this. Saying that paying them more would mean they deceive less seems naive.

I’d like to see monthly, publicly available online expenses receipts as well.

In addition to this other income should be declared and made easily available to the public.

Again – look to Holyrood – ALL expenses are published online, ALL expenses must have a receipt.

NOt paying MPs would mean only the rich could become one

Paying them much less and stopping second jobs would mean only people with a public service ethos would want to become one – the chancers would go elsewhere

Kerley – they get huge payoffs of many times the average salary when they lose their seats.

The should receive the national average wage ( or a small multiple there off ie 2x)

Average wages is about £29k and MP earns £76, 011, which 2.6 the average wage…