A word in your ear by Mr Peter Perrin
MPs salaries….
“This proposal, yet again, makes a mockery of the Government’s incantation “we are all in this together”. Does your heart bleed and are you shedding tears of sympathy for these “lowly paid” MPs and the hardships they suffer trying to get by on a salary of at least £66.000 a year plus expenses?
Below is an extract of a report by Nick Robinson the BBC’s Political Editor
“MPs’ pay rise: PM told he can’t stop it”
“Faced by public outrage five years ago, the House of Commons decided it would, in future, no longer set its own pay and conditions.
The new body that has that task – the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority – is about to unveil proposals for a significant increase in the pay of ordinary backbench MPs from just over £66,000 a year to a figure well over £70,000 starting after the next election.
At a time when there is significant pay restraint in the public and private sectors this would be likely to cause more outrage from voters.
However, no party leader has the power to block the recommendations of the independent regulator, nor are MPs meant to vote on the matter.
What’s more, I understand, the prime minister has been warned that if the government did try to impose pay restraint it would be outvoted by the two thirds of Members of Parliament who told the independent review that they were paid too little.
For decades independent studies have proposed significant increases in the pay of MPs, many of whom complain they deal every day with head teachers, doctors or council leaders who are paid much more than they are. One reason why their expenses or allowances system became more and more generous and open to abuse was to still backbench anger at pay restraint imposed by ministers who earn significantly more than their colleagues.
None of these arguments is likely to do very much to still the fury of those voters who regard the political class as living in a world apart.”
The proteststations of Messrs Cameron and Clegg sound somewhat hollow and, I suspect, have more to do with embarrassment caused them by the effrontery of the proposal whilst at the same time they are imposing wage freezes and a 1% limit on benefit increases.
It is said that MPs are being made “an offer they cannot refuse” that they are legally bound to comply with IPSA’s proposal. Would they be just as willing to concede they are legally bound to comply had the proposal been for a wage cut? I somehow doubt they would.
How independent is the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority?”
Who appoints members?
Who pays their salaries?
Members of IPSA receive high salaries at considerable cost, I assume, to the taxpayer.
I suspect IPSA is just another part of the “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” network and its independence is influenced by its own dependence, for its very existence, on its paymasters i.e. the Government and MPs the very people it is supposed to be regulating.
Truffle sandwiches all round for our hard working MP’s all washed down with some pig swill hopefully.
Completely disagree Which also means i disagree with our idiot prime minister also. MPs are paid a rubbish salary for what they have to do. No comparable profession would work so hard for such a pittance. The comment “members of ipsa receive high salaries at considerable cost, I assume, to the taxpayer” says all you need to know about this mealy mouthed blog author. Numpty.