On MPs pay

Here's how I would do it.

1. Pay MPs a salary - £60 or £70K not unreasonable, as lets face it is quite stressful - having to smile all the time, and listen to what your civil servants and publicists, and advisors tell you what to say.
2. Abolish all expenses, and staff expenses, and second homes.
3. Provide accommodation for MPs who have to stay in London, at a reduced rent of course. Have heard the olympic village idea - its a good one.
4. Staff used by MPs vetted and paid for by parliament - no MP involvement in remunuration.
5. Review pension provisions to MPs - they currently get a £30,000 pot after their first term (or thereabouts) - let them feel the same pain as everyone else.
5. Supply electric cars to all MPs for use in London - lead by example.

It is said that fewer quality people will be attracted to politics if the remunuration is reduced - my question is should that sort of person be wanted to serve us anyway? Should not people who want to be MPs want to be MPs for reasons other than what they can gorge at the trough? Just thinking aloud.

Budget day!!

Al's going to come up with another world saving budget today.

Not.

More than likely just a load of publicised and hidden tweeks here and there which have a net effect on the average person of +/- zilch, just add more bureaucracy to business, and make this country less and less attractive as somewhere to live for people born here.

Flat rate fro going to work.

Gordon Brown's going to scrap the second home, and other expenses allowances, and take more control of employing MPs staff (like family members who are paid to review films (Jacqui Smith)).

Its going to amount to £125 / day, which in some cases could take them to a level greater than there current 2nd home allowance (£25,000 cf £23,000)

Now, this sounds like a good deal - for MPs, and typically another ill thought through knee jerk face and self saving response to the general publics disquiet and disgust at the snouts in the trough mentality of today's career politicians.

Personally I get a daily allowance for turning up to work too - its called a salary.

Once again, isn't it about time that politicians were paid for the work that they do, a standard salary package, and with that they make the appropriate choices on how they use that money - just like the rest of us.

Hazel Blear to resign?

So Hazel's revealed documents, just like Bob Quick did a few weeks ago.

Bob did the decent thing, and resigned quickly.

How about it Hazel, resigning too, or are you waiting for the flat rate payments revealed by the document contents. No wonder the big smile.

Second homes, second homes, anyone?

Geoff Hoon, Alaistair Darling - they're all at it. Get your second homes here, all expenses paid, an the uk taxpayer, tax free.

Look at the Geoff Hoon love site for more interesting snippets.

Got it wrong again Darling.

Not something my wife's said to me, but the fact that (surprise surprise) Alistair Darling can no longer disguise with flim flam the fact that the UK budgetery plans are going pear shaped. A gloss is being painted on it, but you can just see this is going to get worse than the prediction even here.

"LONDON (SHARECAST) - The British economy is in for a tough year, warns Chancellor Alistair Darling who’s owned up to underestimating the depth of the downturn.

"I remain optimistic that we will get back into growth, but 2009 will be a difficult year," he told the BBC ahead of the annual Budget on 22 April.

Darling is widely tipped to dramatically revise growth forecasts announced in last November’s Pre-Budget Report. Then, he predicted the start of a recovery in the second half of the year.

Now, it looks like the start of 2009 was no better than the last quarter of 2008 when Britain’s economy shrank by 1.6%. “In the first three months of this year I have seen nothing that doesn't tell me that this position is going to be equally bad,” he said.

"If you look at the problems we have got at the moment, there is no doubt that the depth of this recession here and across the world is far greater than people were predicting last year.”

Darling is expected to predict the UK economy will contract by between 2.5% and 3% in 2009, that’s the worst performance since World War Two.

Meanwhile, a report commissioned by the BBC found that the UK’s deficit is about 2.7% more than Darling acknowledged in November.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the government may have to find an extra £39bn a year by the end of 2015/16 to plug the gap in its finances.

If the government decided to use only tax-raising measures to balance the books, it would cost the average family about £1,250 a year in taxes."

Source Sharecast

MPs enjoy generous tax breaks

It seems that for tax purposes MPs are better than us. They are allowed to have 2 homes and have it set off against tax.

Telsgraph link

IMHO, all MPs expenses should be got rid of, they should be paid a salary, and out of that fund all their second homes, and so on - just like the rest of us. If they require staff, they should be paid for by parliament, not by the MP.

Our illustrious Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, has been caught. Her husband, in her second home, for which she claims a second house allowance, all of a few miles away from her primary residence (a flat she shares with her sister in London, go figure), has been downloading porn from the internet service provider (Virgin), and billing it to the account of the right honourable. About time we changed these disgusting expense and second home rules. Funnily enough the rest of the bunch are staying surprisingly quiet.

Now, what were the films he was watching?