Seven in ten MPs on £65k believe they are underpaid

[Steve Foster]

£65000 pa I would agree is low, however with the final salary pension on a 30ths basis their remuneration is approx £100,000.

Not so bad

 

[34064 Fighter Command]

They're massively underpaid.

What, like the rest of the public sector?

They are public sector employees and should be treated as no different to Teachers, Nurses, Firemen etc, who all do far more important work........

 

[Uncle C]

Uncle C,point taken.
In the frenzy of NSC debate,it all went slighty awry!

Apology accepted. Doesn't happen often on here.

 

[Randsta]

I dont see why people are shocked by this if I was in charge I'd want to bleed all the little people dry...that's how it works!

 

[34064 Fighter Command]

You can't stop private business paying the going rate plus a bit more to get the right people in. The pay a politician gets is poor and if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

But unlike the private sector MP's pay comes from general taxation, MP's are for the most part NOT running the country, only Ministers with cabinet positions have that responsibility.

I would guess that if you asked the 3 in 10 MP's, who thought they were adequately paid, they would be the ones with experience of life working OUTSIDE the political bubble. The Private Sector has far more reason to keep pay levels LOW, not high. It's how they manage to remain competitive.

 

[Sussex Nomad]

But unlike the private sector MP's pay comes from general taxation, MP's are for the most part NOT running the country, only Ministers with cabinet positions have that responsibility.

A company has a board of directors, a management system and the underlings. Government, as has been mentioned is UK PLC and is run in a similar manner. Each MP has a part in the decision making of the country, from listening to their constituents concerns and feeding back the information, to being junior ministers, Government whips, etc. They are part of the machine and are part of the voting system that has the responsibility to make the decisions to run the country. The civil service runs the country on the back of MPs decisions. Each and every MP has the responsibility and not just cabinet ministers.

 

[Monsieur Le Plonk]

Excactly and therein lies the problem. People of adequate calibre, experience, skill and integrity that actually might be good at running the country will not be interested in a job that pays way way below what they could earn elsewhere. On top of this they know that their personal lives will become public property, if they make the smallest error in judgement or make one verbal slip they will be ridiculed and that most of the population will hold them in contempt. As you imply, it's a free market but with the reality of the job description iti s no wonder we only get muppets applying.

It's a catch 22, but if we want to have politicians that we can respect and do a good job then we, the public, have to make the job attractive to those with the skills to do it. We, the taxpayer and voter, are the employer and every employer has to offer pay and conditions suitable to attract the type of candidate he or she needs.

Good post.
Someone stated earlier that a lot of the bankers were totally incompetent, well yes some were and a lot probably still are, but there are still a lot of smart guys in that sector who wouldn't dream of giving up what they have for a life of politics. The earnings balance needs correcting and that would mean a substantial increase in the salary of an mp and a far greater reduction in the earnings of the bankers and this correction ain't going to happen any time soon. Until it does you are going to have sub-standard politicians.

 

[34064 Fighter Command]

A company has a board of directors, a management system and the underlings. Government, as has been mentioned is UK PLC and is run in a similar manner. Each MP has a part in the decision making of the country, from listening to their constituents concerns and feeding back the information, to being junior ministers, Government whips, etc. They are part of the machine and are part of the voting system that has the responsibility to make the decisions to run the country. The civil service runs the country on the back of MPs decisions. Each and every MP has the responsibility and not just cabinet ministers.

Except that for the vast majority of MP's who are not Ministers, they are expected by their Whips to tow the party line, and vote for what their party leaders want, irrespective of whether they listen to their constituents or not.

Where they do vital work is when they are sitting on Select Committees, and for that they deserve additional renumeration, not simply because they have been elected.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

65K is low for the responsibility. In the IT industry skilled Network engineers, Project managers and the like can get paid more than that. I'd wager it's a damn site harder being an MP that writing 10 Print ''MP's are underpaid'' 20 goto 10 and making sure the engineer writes said code. I'd also wager that if a poll was put on here ''Are you underpaid'' at least 7 out of 10 would resposne yes whether they stack shelves or run the country. You only have to read the account of the MP in the 'plebgate' scandal to think f*** that for an occupation.

That said, nows not the time to introduce whacking great big pay rises for MP's. You can't make cuts everywhere else and say we are all in it together. I suspect though that not even Call me Dave and Nick 2 sugars Clegg are that thick.

 

[nwgull]

I've always fancied being an MP but the things that put me off ( in order ) are :

> I wouldn't want to be aligned to any party so it's close to impossible to get elected
> I wouldn't want the intrusion into my private life
> The hours are very long and you don't necessarily get weekends off
> I can currently earn more, doing less and having a life outside work

£65k really is a pittance for what a good MP does.

You missed off the fact that it isn't exactly easy to get into the position of being nominated to represent your party at an election. And then at the end of 4-5 years hard work you could be still be kicked out if you're in a marginal seat.

If you genuinely have the brains to become an MP, then there are much much easier and quicker ways of working your way up to earning a salary of 65K or more.

 

[Sussex Nomad]

to being junior ministers, Government whips, etc.

Where they do vital work is when they are sitting on Select Committees, and for that they deserve additional renumeration, not simply because they have been elected.

The 'etc.' kind of covered the 'other' jobs they do other than being constituent MPs and you've also just covered the fact that they probably should be paid more, which is what I have been saying all along.

 

[Sussex Nomad]

Also, do you know that most Permanent Secretaries of the Ministries, civil servants paid from the tax payers coffers, earn more than the Prime Minister?

Edit: Grab a load of this lot... In full: the highest paid civil servants | Politics | guardian.co.uk

 

[Norman Potting]

Too many sensible and well reasoned responses to this thread - surely we can do better than this.

 

[34064 Fighter Command]

Also, do you know that most Permanent Secretaries of the Ministries, civil servants paid from the tax payers coffers, earn more than the Prime Minister?

Edit: Grab a load of this lot... In full: the highest paid civil servants | Politics | guardian.co.uk

That's because they have the kind of relevant expertise in their field that the general Member of Parliament won't have.

Take one at random for instance :

Sir Trevor Soar Commander-In-Chief Fleet Ministry of Defence £160,000 - £164,999

He commanded the submarines HMS Ocelot from 1987 to 1990 and HMS Talent from 1991 to 1994. He went on to command the frigate HMS Chatham from 1997 to 1998 and the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible from 2002 to 2004. Trevor Soar was appointed Capability Manager (Precision Attack) in 2004 in the rank of rear admiral and was promoted to Chief of Materiel (Fleet), Defence Equipment & Support in the rank of vice admiral in 2007.

On 17 October 2008, it was announced that he will be promoted to admiral and appointed as Commander-in-Chief Fleet and Allied Maritime Component Commander, Northwood. He fully assumed the role (on promotion) on 10 June 2009. He also held the honorary position of Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom from 2009 to 2012.

How many Naval Vessels has David Cameron taken charge of, I'll wager it's exactly nil. he might have been in the Cadets at Eton, but then so was I (at Brighton College) and that doesn't qualify me to be C in C of the Royal Navy.

 

[cloud]

Some of them will also get additional remuneration from sitting on Select Committees and the like http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-02725.pdf

 

[sydney]

some tart over here ( labour front bencher) came out a couple of weeks ago saying that she could live on 35 dollars (20 quid ) a day........she has now been challenged to do it and been forced into

making a grovelling, public apology ........... these people actually have no idea what it's all about.........they are totally isolated from the rank and file/working class ,whatever you want to call us. we used to elect
these twatts and they used to represent us..........not any more is it...

 

[Lethargic]

With the current batch of MPs and the mind set now established they are over paid but if we were to raise the salary and establish clearer rules ie sole employment, controlled expenses, etc them it might improve the quality of MPs and help the country as a whole. Maybe establish a pay as you play type deal ie how many votes, debates they participate in, etc.

 

[nwgull]

That's because they have the kind of relevant expertise in their field that the general Member of Parliament won't have.

How many Naval Vessels has David Cameron taken charge of, I'll wager it's exactly nil. he might have been in the Cadets at Eton, but then so was I (at Brighton College) and that doesn't qualify me to be C in C of the Royal Navy.

What a strange comparison to make. I was never aware that the ability to command a naval vessel was a requirement to become an MP and a minister. I thought it was more to do with policy ideas, articulate speech making and answering questions etc.

 

[Sussex Nomad]

What a strange comparison to make. I was never aware that the ability to command a naval vessel was a requirement to become an MP and a minister. I thought it was more to do with policy ideas, articulate speech making and answering questions etc.

Was thinking the exact same thing... mind you there are some highly thought of barristers that become MPs and end up with Ministerial and Junior Ministerial roles in the MoJ and Home Office, which makes them very relevant, as are there very good MPs that are accountants and have similar jobs in the Treasury, so I'm not sure of the argument he is trying to make?

 

[Tricky Dicky]

The average level suggested for the salary was £86,250

And more than a third of MPS believe they should keep generous final salary pensions.

we're all in it together

Seven in ten MPs on £65k believe they are underpaid - Telegraph

Certainly underpaid compared to most jobs of that level, though I would given them a rise and ban them from taking second paid jobs whilst they're elected.