Have we done the Rifkind/Straw/Bottle of Chips thing yet?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-31589202

tut tut tut.

Sir Malcolm is paid £67,000 a year and he said telling the company he was not paid a salary was a “silly thing to say”.

“Of course I receive a salary as a Member of Parliament but I was referring to my business interests, from none of which I receive a salary. I receive payment for services I provide,” he said.

He told the Daily Politics an MP’s salary “sounds a lot of money to anyone earning less than that”.

But he added: “The reality is that to anyone from a professional or business background earns considerably more than that.”

I’m from a professional background and I earn well under half of his MP salary – is that him promising me a wage rise?

You need to buck your ideas up 🙂

He is right though. Anyone capable enough to get elected to parliament numerous times, hold multiple senior cabinet and shadow cabinet posts as well as be accepted to chair the Security and Intelligence Committee will be earning considerably more than £67,000 a year.

£499,960.78 or thereabouts (apparently)
http://news.stv.tv/scotland-decides/311418-conservative-party-suspend-whip-from-malcolm-rifkind-after-allegations/

He is right though. Anyone capable enough to get elected to parliament numerous times, hold multiple senior cabinet and shadow cabinet posts as well as be accepted to chair the Security and Intelligence Committee will be earning considerably more than £67,000 a year.

Unless you weren’t in it for the money but firmly believed in serving the public for the sake of the greater good….

Well as a Minister he would be wouldn’t he? They get at least another £45k on top of their MP’s salary.

Unless you weren’t in it for the money but firmly believed in serving the public for the sake of the greater good….

lol

I think it’s incredible that these appprently intelligent people have a stranger offer them 5 grand a day to do something dodgy, they don’t even bother to check out who they are?

Amazing! Just shows how blasé they are about it

I’ll be very surprised and disappointed if Jack Straw turns out to be on the make.
He’s a good fella.

I think it’s incredible that these appprently intelligent people have a stranger offer them 5 grand a day to do something dodgy, they don’t even bother to check out who they are?

They’ll pull the good old “we gave them a ridiculous price because we knew they were undercover” bullshine.

I think it’s incredible that these appprently intelligent people have a stranger offer them 5 grand a day to do something dodgy, they don’t even bother to check out who they are?

Sure but that’s not what happened is it Binners. He was having a conversation, not negotiating a fee. It was their first speculative meeting. If they actually had them agreeing a fee to do some work then this would be story that the press/C4 want it to be but it’s a bit of lame duck at the moment that has only got traction because we’re only a few months away from a General Election.

A good fella? Or a Goodfella? No he isn’t! He’s a little shit 😀

Based purely on his public persona, I always got the impression Straw was a straight arrow as well. But then there is much machination we won’t see.

Deal should be they have no other interests, renumerate them in whatever way is required to compensate.

He’s a spineless, unprincipled little weasel. A Blairite ‘yes’ Man. Who’s happy to disregard the constituents who elected him, in favour of big corporate cheques.?Seems to be quite the thing in the Labour Party. So really he’s a pioneer. Good for you Jack, you trailblazer.

Rifkind? He’s a Tory. I’d expect nothing less.

Rifkind shoul have jacked and gone for a better paid job if he thought the money wasn’t enough. That’s Tory thinking, that is.

Well tell us what you really think Binners 😀

That’s Tory thinking, that is.

Oh please; it’s got less to do with your political persuasion and more to do with your motivation.

£67,000 is a decent wage but there’s nothing wrong with wanting to earn more.

The most disappointing thing about all of this is that they’ve forgotten the lessons of the recent past.

I suspect Sir Malcolm won’t be making an appearance in the “My Week” column in Saturday’s Times, somehow…

It’s another symptom of our system of representative democracy. As long as MPs have the freedom to do what they want then they’re going to be open to conflicts of interest and corruption. If we had a more federalist system where MPs were delegates instead of representatives they’d have less opportunity for this sort of thing.

I still don’t see why MPs salaries aren’t means tested. It’s fair to them all.

If it’s their only job they keep all the cash.

If they have other income sources then the salary is reduce on a sliding scale.

I did write to my MP with this suggestion but don’t seem to have got a reply..,

I don’t see what all the fuss is about.

Nothing about Rifkind that we didn’t learn well when he was our MP- sold out Rosyth in order to try and buy some southern votes. Same shit, different price.

Unless you weren’t in it for the money but firmly believed in serving the public for the sake of the greater good….

And then unless really lucky (The ‘Beast’ maybe) you get incompetent fools…

And there’s more!

I’d feel sorry for Jack Straw, but he beat me to it and is *much* better at it than I could ever be.

More ‘corrupt’ politicians shocker.

when will we learn.

And there’s more!

And more…

Why did Rifkind want dibs on the torture report, after being chairman of a private military (mercenary?) contractor during the Iraq War?

I’ve not seen the transcript with Straw so I don’t know how immediate the work/role he was being offered was.. but isn’t he retiring in a few weeks isn’t he? (he stands down at the next election but Parliament is dissolved at the end of next month so he’s only got 4 weeks of MP-ing left to do) So unless these recordings were made months or years ago or the work he was being offered was extremely immediate he’d be talking about work he’d do after he’d be doing as an ex-MP wouldn’t he?

Heard a boombastic and unrepentant Rifkind on the radio this morning. He may not have broken parliamentary regulations but morally he could show a bit more humility.
He was also saying that we will not attract knowledgable businessmen and women into parliament if they are restricted to £60k. I know private companies can pay top brass 6 figure salaries if they wish, however plenty of people work for a fraction of that whilst knowing that an error at work can see people killed.

apparently straw made it clear he’d only be doing it after he stepped down as an MP

so while it exposes how easy it is to buy political influence in this country its not any worse than most lobbying, or peerages for part donors or buying a dinner with cameron, shoe shopping with theresa may etc

the rifkind thing is a bit different hes made no such assurances and sits on the intelligence/security comittee, is he chair? which seems questionable- wasnt he on the board of one of those dodgy iraq security contractors?

anyway wheres jivehoneyjive? i suspect there is an epic post and series of links coming our way

takes the heat off the telegraphover their own hsbc dodginess

Cut the number in half

Pay them properly

Ban any other jobs, full stop

That should be a start

rifkind getting a pasting on newsnight for damaging the intelligence security comitee’s reputation, claiming that he had a lot of spare time, when former members say there is a huge amount of classified material to read

especially when the ISC ought to be focusing on IS and Russian issues right now

Ban any other jobs, full stop

Including ministerial jobs – (or the speaker who’s a sitting MP)? What is a back bench MP supposed to do with the time that a front bench MP is being paid for?

binners – Member

He’s a spineless, unprincipled little weasel. A Blairite ‘yes’ Man. Who’s happy to disregard the constituents who elected him, in favour of big corporate cheques.?Seems to be quite the thing in the Labour Party. So really he’s a pioneer. Good for you Jack, you trailblazer.

Rifkind? He’s a Tory. I’d expect nothing less.

Nail on the head. I totally agree.

Despite my deep dislike for Tony Blair it was actually Jack Straw that eventually convinced me that I could no longer support the election of a Labour government. I tolerated New Labour for a few uncomfortable months after Tony Blair first became leader but then the final straw, so to speak, was a speech made by Jack Straw in 1995 which totally convinced me that I had no longer shared any fundamental goals with the Labour Party – in the 1997 general election I canvassed for the LibDems under Charles Kennedy’s leadership.

The irony of Straw saying in the recent revelations that he charges £5,000 for a speech wasn’t lost on me – he will say anything if the price is right.

It should be remembered that Jack Straw stepped in to be Britain’s warmongering Foreign Secretary when his predecessor Robin Cook bravely relinquished the appointment on moral and ethical grounds – he wasn’t prepared to back a bloody unjustified war based on deliberate lies and misinformation.

Jack Straw had no such moral dilemmas – which says everything that you need to know about the self-serving opportunistic careerist.

Lets do a sweepstake on when Rifkind will be cast off the Intelligence and Security Committee…

There are several likely reasons Jack Straw is retiring:

a) His links to extraordinary rendition (torture)

b) The not toooo distant release of the Chilcot report

c) He was on Islington council when children were being abused and trafficked from carehomes,

including to Jersey…

d) As Justice Secretary, in 2008 (whilst Jimmy Savile was still alive), he had jurisdiction over Jersey ignoring appeals to ensure justice was served,

e) He then went on to introduce a law that proposed it would be illegal for children from carehomes to complain

Of course, if the current Government hadn’t tried to cover abuse on Jersey up, they’d be a lot less scrutiny of the entire establishment now… as it is, given allegations of Jimmy Savile, Edward Heath and kids being taken out to sea on Heath’s yacht Morning Cloud, never to be seen again and missing records throughout all authorities linked to the scandal, it appears The Home Office, The Privy Council and perhaps even the Monarchy have several questions to answer

Funnily enough, Rifkind is also deeply embroiled in a similar linked scandal…

@Jive- perhaps also mention f) He’s 69 years old

e) doesn’t seem to be that simple either- it was described as gagging them but in practice just seems to prevent them being identified by name.

Labour holding a vote on banning 2nd jobs tomorrow

naturally Tories and their limpdem lapdogs will oppose it

Rifkind to step down as an MP.

£67,000 is a decent wage but there’s nothing wrong with wanting to earn more.

It’s a wage that puts you in the top 3% of earners, so a bit more than “decent”.

If you want to earn more, don’t be an MP.