MP's Salaries

[miss_s_b]

Poll #1590 MPs Salaries

Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 14

View Respondents

How much should MPs be paid (in thousands of pounds per year)

View Answers
Mean: 87.86 Median: 85 Std. Dev 42.12

10	0 (0.0%)
20	0 (0.0%)
30	1 (7.1%)
40	1 (7.1%)
50	1 (7.1%)
60	2 (14.3%)
70	2 (14.3%)
80	0 (0.0%)
90	0 (0.0%)
100	3 (21.4%)
110	1 (7.1%)
120	2 (14.3%)
130	0 (0.0%)
140	0 (0.0%)
150	0 (0.0%)
160	0 (0.0%)
170	0 (0.0%)
180	0 (0.0%)
190	0 (0.0%)
200	1 (7.1%)

Should this amount have expenses on top?

View Answers

No, that should be enough for everything
0 (0.0%)

No, but MPs should have staff paid for by parliament - caseworkers and researchers - rather than having to pay for them themselves and then claim for it
3 (21.4%)

Yes, but MPs should only be able to claim for travel and accomodation.
2 (14.3%)

Yes, MPs should be able to claim for anything defined as expenses under HMRC rules.
8 (57.1%)

Yes, MPs should be allowed to claim for whatever they deem necessary as expenses.
1 (7.1%)

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Comments

[andrewhickey.info]

I don't really have very strong feelings about MPs' wages, but it might be a good idea for them to be on the median wage...

[miss_s_b]

I like Mark Thomas's idea of a maximum wage, but not as a set figure, but as a multiple of the lowest paid worker in the organisation's wage...

[andrewhickey.info]

Yeah, I've always argued that myself. You can pay yourself a million a year, but only if the cleaner's on a hundred grand...

[bagpuss]

This is a very appealing way of setting a pay scale

Its apparently how Wholefood markets in the US do it but I believe its doesn't include bonuses and share options so its not that difficult to get round in some respects

[uninvitedcat]

I love that idea!

Some random tl;dr blah blah blah

[telegramsam]

I don't know how it works over in the UK or really even how it is over here for the "big wheels" (quite different I imagine) but as a state gov't worker bee I can tell you here it's like pulling teeth for us little peons to get reimbursed for anything outside of a small set of well-defined expenses. There are stringent caps on what we can claim for a hotel room (and a receipt is required, and you can bet your ass I call beforehand and ask straight-up if they offer the state gov't rate on any of their rooms before making a reservation), we get a set per diem on food and only if we stay somewhere overnight.

If I, for example, drive four hours out to Memphis and eat lunch there (or skip lunch altogether, as I usually end up doing when conducting inspections) but drive the four hours back in the same day rather than staying overnight (because let's face it, much of Memphis is a scary place at night and I don't like staying there after dark), that lunch is out of my own pocket.

And honestly? I don't care. I think that's fair enough. It works pretty well because then everybody knows exactly what they can and can't have. Maybe you all should just outline what your folks can spend and what they can spend it on and put caps on it, then nobody can whine and cry that they didn't know such-and-such wasn't a legitimate expense. Or, hell, just give them a monthly allowance like children (if they want to act like children) and when they run out, they run out.

Blah blah blah blah blah....

Re: Some random tl;dr blah blah blah

[miss_s_b]

I think the main objection to how MPs run their expenses system is that everyone else has very stringent rules to follow, but MPs have very lax ones, on purpose, because they didn't want the bad publicity of giving themselves a pay rise.

Re: Some random tl;dr blah blah blah

[telegramsam]

Sounds like they got their bad publicity anyway. They might have gotten shit for a pay raise but I somehow doubt it would be at the same level as the shit they're getting now.

Or they could have just, you know, lived like normal sane people instead of entitled richy-rich arseholes off the taxpayers.

Oh well. Live and learn right? Or live and not learn, as the case may be.

Re: Some random tl;dr blah blah blah

[miss_s_b]

Well, yeah, but they got twenty years of gravy train before it came out.