[Misc] Owen Patterson M.P.

[Thunder Bolt]

Those Tory MPs who were whipped and voted with the government on Wednesday afternoon were threatened with withdrawing funding for their constituencies. We have gangsters in charge.

Read the whole Twitter thread because Johnson flew down from Glasgow on Tuesday night to see Charles Moore (now Lord Moore in the House of Lords elevated by Johnson)
Besides cocking a snook at Climate Change by using a private jet, it appears Johnson, Moore, Paterson, Carrie and John Whittingdale are all entwined.



https://twitter.com/fascinatorfun/status/1456344725535985666

 

[drew]

There seems to me to be a lot of garbage spoken about second jobs. Yes, you might be a respected doctor but that isn't much help if you debating the pros and cons on legislation for the fishing industry!

Johnson's only previous work experience was as a journalist which wouldn't give him much grounding in running a business (the country being the business he is now running!). Cameron had no real work experience either. Both were crap and both got elected.

As for Patterson, he was a business man but does anyone honestly think he was paid vast sums of money because or his previous job or was it really because he was a back door into the corridors of government!

 

[Southern Scouse]

I lived in Brazil for 12 years where corruption was at presidential level right down to a traffic warden and was accepted by 95% of the population. I was often asked how amazing it must be to live in a country where you don’t have to pay off police officers or buy planning permission.
I explained that was true, although we had fairly low level corruption in the UK at least the majority of our politicians were mostly honest albeit they always lied one way or other over the small stuff. I came across this time and time again as I worked in South America and it became something I was proud off.
It would seem to me that the honesty, integrity and rule of law are at the top of the British best bits list and all of us should be working hard to uphold that status. Anything that could be misconstrued as an abuse of trust such as a second job for politicians should be stamped upon and rooted out.

 

[Dick Swiveller]

The BASIC salary of a backbench MP is a smidge under £82K. And you want to pay them more? For real?

Maybe if I tell you that the average salary for a junior doctor in London is £38K it might put things in perspective for you.

Yes - for real. You want to attract the best people and a lot will be earning a lot more than junior doctors outside of politics. Don't see you howling about PL players on ridiculous salaries. Zaha gets more in two weeks than Johnson gets a basic salary for a year for running the country. Bringing doctors into it is disingenuous.

The idea is very simple - pay a salary conducive to the role whilst banning ANY outside income whilst working as an MP. You can still attract people worthy of the role without attracting those who will use the job to feather their nests. Probably a pie in the sky idea but a sound idea - have people in politics so they are solely working for the public and not themselves. But unless you criminalise other income whilst in post it will never work.

 

[schmunk]

The BASIC salary of a backbench MP is a smidge under £82K. And you want to pay them more? For real?

Maybe if I tell you that the average salary for a junior doctor in London is £38K it might put things in perspective for you.

That's a slightly specious argument, as an MP *should* be an experienced, "senior" figure with acquired skills and knowledge to lead and promote their constituency - akin to a medical Consultant, whose starting pay is £84k, rising to over £100k after 10 years in the job.

 

[vegster]

That's a slightly specious argument, as an MP *should* be an experienced, "senior" figure with acquired skills and knowledge to lead and promote their constituency - akin to a medical Consultant, whose starting pay is £84k, rising to over £100k after 10 years in the job.

I think you will find they are still allowed to claim for expenses, have subsidised food and drink on site and have a very generous pension scheme, even if/when they are voted out of office they are still employable in the real world..... and in fact are probably MORE employable thanks to the connections they have made at work and while in the job. You don't bump in to them at food banks.

 

[Springal]

£84k isn't that much really. Not overly difficult in many industries to get that kind of money or more by being half decent.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

£84k isn't that much really. Not overly difficult in many industries to get that kind of money or more by being half decent.

Yes, it depends on your perspective.

For a nurse in the NHS, 84k seems a HUGE amount of money, but for a middle manager working for any Investment bank or similar in London it's a normal salary.

As has been said, to get talented people, you need to raise the ceiling, as commercial salaries are FAR more attractive for real talent. I know the current government isn't a good sample, as they have filtered out non-Brexit supporters, so the Tories have lost many MPs who you might consider to be the 'better' people (e.g. Dominic Grieve), but overall the quality of so depressingly poor. I'd support banning 2nd jobs and paying 100k+ for MPs.

 

[Hotchilidog]

£84k isn't that much really. Not overly difficult in many industries to get that kind of money or more by being half decent.

84K is a LOT of money. That is pretty insulting to everyone who will never get anywhere near earning that sort of money.

 

[Springal]

84K is a LOT of money. That is pretty insulting to everyone who will never get anywhere near earning that sort of money.

That isn't what I said or implied.

To put it into perspective I reckon with 5 years experience in things like Technology / Telecoms sales, Recruitment, Business Operations / Management etc you could get to that kind of earnings as a 'sole contributor'. But the opportunities are out there if you put the work in or want to go into the kind of industries that pay that money.

 

[Hotchilidog]

That isn't what I said or implied.

To put it into perspective I reckon with 5 years experience in things like Technology / Telecoms sales, Recruitment, Business Operations / Management etc you could get to that kind of earnings as a 'sole contributor'. But the opportunities are out there if you put the work in or want to go into the kind of industries that pay that money.

Apologies if I misconstrued your post, but it came across to me as a fairly throwaway point.

However one person who would consider 84k a pittance is the current PM.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Apologies if I misconstrued your post, but it came across to me as a fairly throwaway point.

However one person who would consider 84k a pittance is the current PM.

The poor little dear can't manage on his £130K wage with free accommodation, and a country mansion.

 

[nicko31]

£84k isn't that much really. Not overly difficult in many industries to get that kind of money or more by being half decent.

84k put you in the top 2% of UK earners, not many people earn that money

 

[Springal]

84k put you in the top 2% of UK earners, not many people earn that money

I still maintain what I said - in certain industries and certain roles you could get that money in 5 years or so without being exceptional.

I don’t think for an MP it is that outrageous money really.

 

[Lower West Stander]

£84k isn't that much really. Not overly difficult in many industries to get that kind of money or more by being half decent.

That's true.

But their pension scheme adds a lot of value. Even City front office workers don't get that....

 

[keaton]

That isn't what I said or implied.

To put it into perspective I reckon with 5 years experience in things like Technology / Telecoms sales, Recruitment, Business Operations / Management etc you could get to that kind of earnings as a 'sole contributor'. But the opportunities are out there if you put the work in or want to go into the kind of industries that pay that money.

You did imply, you may not have meant to. And your second post implies that's to do with people not working hard enough. That could not be how you mean it but it's comes across. Either way maintaining 84k a year is not a lot is not normal

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

That's a slightly specious argument, as an MP *should* be an experienced, "senior" figure with acquired skills and knowledge to lead and promote their constituency - akin to a medical Consultant, whose starting pay is £84k, rising to over £100k after 10 years in the job.

• Anyone can stand for election (as long as they stump up the deposit, which is small beer).
• Anyone can form a club with shared views and organise candidates nationwide. They can call it a 'party' if they wish.
• And the electorate do the voting

This is not a career where remuneration is based on supply and demand, as it is for footballers, actors and musicians

The idea of cranking up the salary to attract people who already earn a shit load of money, to tempt 'real talent' to change career is simply wrong. And in any case, unless there was a guarantee that once elected they had a job for life (or until they got caught creaming off even more money from consultancies and other forms of graft) the career would remain unattractive to the venal.

This is why I still feel that most of our MPs have a sense of public service. Its the minority, the shits, that we hear about, when they are caught. Unfortunately the Boris gang has a venal core (the shits have stolen the game), and find it very easy to use the institutions like a coke-fuelled money and shagging wheeze.

I am not a liberal and would quite like a change to the system whereby candidates need to fit a job description. And I would also like to see aspiring voters pass a competance test like they have to do to drive, before they are allowed to put their X in a box.

None of this will change, though. To paraphrase Douglas Adams' character, Ford Prefect, "why do you lot keep voting for Lizards when all they do is take your money and shit on you?". The answer was "If we don't vote for a lizard, the wrong lizard would be elected". This was taken as a swipe at politicians. Actually it was a swipe at the stupidity and fearfulness of the electorate. In a democracy, the people always get the government they deserve. Fact.

 

[The Clamp]

One of the most insidious tricks MP’s have pulled off in the last few years is convincing people who earn £20k a year that someone can’t live on £80-130k a year + expenses. Mind-boggling really.

 

[Acker79]

https://twitter.com/newsthump/status/1456277361867911173?s=20

[tweet]1456277361867911173[/tweet]

[tweet]1456745885573001223[/tweet]

 

[rogersix]

When I started this thread, I thought “ Bear pit within 10 posts”

15 pages and still on the main board .

Well done everybody.

Can we now go after Robert Jenrick, cos if he isn’t corrupt, I’m a Dutchman.

for whatever reason the right wing zombies have chosen not to die on this paticular hill