Am I alone in finding this so tawdry?

25Avalon

I’ve signed a petition to stop MP’s of any parties accepting gifts. When I worked as a public servant we were not allowed to accept gifts and hospitality to maintain our integrity. MP’s should be the same.

Agree 👏👏👏

I’ve signed a petition to stop MP’s of any parties accepting gifts. When I worked as a public servant we were not allowed to accept gifts and hospitality to maintain our integrity. MP’s should be the same.

Actually, I did think it was funny though!
Who would we moan about then?

Oh, there's always H and M

(ducks for cover

It is clear that people don't value MPs at all and don't think they do a vital job, so why do we bother?

Lovely 🧹 sweeping statement. Not true, but well put.

It is clear that people don't value MPs at all
Proof of that?
Or clarify with
^It is clear that some people don't value some MPs at all and don't think some of them do a vital job.

That would be true.
so why do we bother?

As Allira posted above,

Just because we'd like a little more integrity in those who represent us in Parliament doesn't mean we want to lose our democracy!

It's not just one Party, it is seemingly all of the Parties over the years who have had some MPs who do not uphold the standards of behaviour we might expect from those we choose to represent us.

That does not mean that they are all reprehensible.

Just because we'd like a little more integrity in those who represent us in Parliament doesn't mean we want to lose our democracy!

It's not just one Party, it is seemingly all of the Parties over the years who have had some MPs who do not uphold the standards of behaviour we might expect from those we choose to represent us.

That does not mean that they are all reprehensible.

Maybe we should forget all about diversity and representation of all walks of life in our MPs and just revert to the pre early 20th C version of government with a limited franchise no women voted) and MPs were all wealthy people who financed themselves and did a bit of governing in their spare time.

It is clear that people don't value MPs at all and don't think they do a vital job, so why do we bother?

Perhaps a dictatorship with one person a man, of course, running the show and no representation of 'the people' would suit us much better? No donations, no large salaries, no 'expenses', no subsidised meals, to bitch about. Bliss...

By speaking to them?

Absolutely! At the last general election we had meetings with all the main party contenders.
All of them without exception told us in their own words, that they wanted to be there to make things better, not just for the country as a whole but for the local people in our constituency.

Three out of the four, (not the Green Party candidate) told us that there was a long road ahead and they want to be elected so they could start work on all the problems.
Two out of the four, used the I want to give something back to our community which was funny, because one of them wasn’t even local.
We didn’t ask about money, but if I’m around next time I certainly will.
I’m sure I would have been told that that wasn’t the reason they wanted to be elected. But then, nobody interviewing for any job, does that.

Oreo

How can anyone truly know why an MP has gone into politics?

By speaking to them?

Oreo

How can anyone truly know why an MP has gone into politics?

You can’t know.
People apply to do jobs because it’s something they want to do. The pay that goes with it is an added incentive.

Sometimes they give reasons. An old favourite is “I want to give something back to the community”

Only someone who works for nothing can truly be said not to be in it for the money.

How can anyone truly know why an MP has gone into politics?

Mine neither, one of the good ones.

Oreo

People become MP’s for all sorts of reasons, mainly ambition I should think tho there will be a few here and there in every Party who think they can make a difference.
For the younger ones it will be usually a massive salary rise I bet unless they worked in the City.

No. My MP is not doing it for the money I can assure you.

People become MP’s for all sorts of reasons, mainly ambition I should think tho there will be a few here and there in every Party who think they can make a difference.
For the younger ones it will be usually a massive salary rise I bet unless they worked in the City.

MayBee70

Many new MP’s were busy setting up their new offices, taking on staff etc at that time.

Oh diddums for them, the poor busy things.

Allira

Try telling that to the young police officers who have recently been on duty during the riots, or the medical staff faced with abuse from some patients.
Firefighters bringing out the bodies of children whom they were unable to save.

I'm appalled at the dismissive attitude some on here have towards our public service staff.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

foxie48

Interesting how what is actually said as opposed to what people think has been said! At no point have I compared the working lives of MPs with police officers, firemen, doctors or indeed any other occupation. I said MPs have a difficult job and they do.
They usually split their lives between two homes often having little contact with their children during the week, they are subjected to threats of violence, can and do have intrusion into their private lives. They have no job security. If they are in government they are basically on duty 24/7, every day of the year as has been evidenced when an emergency has occurred there is an expectation that govt will spring into action. They are no longer free to do many of the things that we take for granted without harassment or being accompanied by security.. Despite what some seem to think, many MPs take a large pay cut when they are elected. fwiw my daughter is a hospital doctor so I am very well aware of the stress she is under when at work, however when she is on leave, no one bothers her and she can go about her life in complete privacy. Thank goodness, she's yet to be pilloried in the media for her choice in clothes or her choice in friends nor has it been suggested she should buy her own scrubs because she owns a nice house!

Oh!

Rather like being in HM Forces except many of them don't get home for months at a time.
For less than half the pay of an MP in many cases.

Many new MP’s were busy setting up their new offices, taking on staff etc at that time.

Despite what some seem to think, many MPs take a large pay cut when they are elected.
And many do not.
It’s like changing your job because you want to do something different. Your choice to make that change.
Hard to believe that an unquantified number of MPs were on over £92,000 pa before they took up their place in parliament? Or those elected to cabinet were on over £150,000 before giving up their jobs, not counting those who are still earning doing a second job to keep their hand in.
On duty 24/7?
Did all MPs rush back to parliament during the riots?
^ 5 Aug 2024 — Sir Keir Starmer has rejected calls for Parliament to be recalled in the face of rioting on Britain's streets.^
This is presumably a lie then?

Interesting how what is actually said as opposed to what people think has been said! At no point have I compared the working lives of MPs with police officers, firemen, doctors or indeed any other occupation. I said MPs have a difficult job and they do.
They usually split their lives between two homes often having little contact with their children during the week, they are subjected to threats of violence, can and do have intrusion into their private lives. They have no job security. If they are in government they are basically on duty 24/7, every day of the year as has been evidenced when an emergency has occurred there is an expectation that govt will spring into action. They are no longer free to do many of the things that we take for granted without harassment or being accompanied by security.. Despite what some seem to think, many MPs take a large pay cut when they are elected. fwiw my daughter is a hospital doctor so I am very well aware of the stress she is under when at work, however when she is on leave, no one bothers her and she can go about her life in complete privacy. Thank goodness, she's yet to be pilloried in the media for her choice in clothes or her choice in friends nor has it been suggested she should buy her own scrubs because she owns a nice house!

MayBee70

MissAdventure

I really don't remember all these vociferous threads about Boris and freebies, had never seen anything about Sunak and helicopters until recently.

Where are these threads?

I can remember threads criticising other things during the tory govt, but freebies, not really, apart from how much was spent on wallpaper.

And there was the tree house.

Luckily for Johnson the £150,000 tree house at Chequers for Wilfred wasn’t allowed to be constructed on grounds of safety. Johnson badly wanted it and had a donor lined up to fund it.

If its done well, its a very tough and responsible job, both
forming all that concerns our lives politically /socially, foreign and international concerns, safety and the next generation, and the caring for the people in their constituency.
Often under threat.

Respect for those who do it well whatever their POV.

Allira

Try telling that to the young police officers who have recently been on duty during the riots, or the medical staff faced with abuse from some patients.
Firefighters bringing out the bodies of children whom they were unable to save.

I'm appalled at the dismissive attitude some on here have towards our public service staff.

I’m not dismissive of our public service staff. In fact I’ve been critical of people begrudging nursing staff a decent pay rise after standing on their doorsteps clapping for them not long ago ( even more so after listening to the doctor who was speaking at the covid enquiry yesterday; it was heartbreaking). Neither am I begrudging other public service workers decent pay rises. Just trying to point out that if, as an MP you do your job properly it isn’t exactly a cushy well paid number.

Try telling that to the young police officers who have recently been on duty during the riots, or the medical staff faced with abuse from some patients.
Firefighters bringing out the bodies of children whom they were unable to save.

I'm appalled at the dismissive attitude some on here have towards our public service staff.

maddyfour

Police officers, firefighters, nurses, doctors, paramedics, and a fair few others have extremely difficult jobs, and not particularly good pay either.
Reading some of the comments on here make me think how privileged and shielded some of our Gransnetters must have been if they truly think an MP has a more difficult life than some of those mentioned above. The hours are unsocial, that’s true, but a better salary than those mentioned above, regardless of qualifications, subsidised food and drink, extremely generous expenses. Really? They have difficult lives/jobs? Well they can always go back to their previous jobs if it’s too difficult or stressful for them.

I don’t think that our public service workers have to stand at the back of station platforms for fear of being pushed under a train the way one of our local Conservative MP’s did. Maybe they don’t go back to their previous jobs because they genuinely believe they can make a difference to peoples lives? I know our newly elected Labour MP believes that.

Police officers, firefighters, nurses, doctors, paramedics, and a fair few others have extremely difficult jobs, and not particularly good pay either.
Reading some of the comments on here make me think how privileged and shielded some of our Gransnetters must have been if they truly think an MP has a more difficult life than some of those mentioned above. The hours are unsocial, that’s true, but a better salary than those mentioned above, regardless of qualifications, subsidised food and drink, extremely generous expenses. Really? They have difficult lives/jobs? Well they can always go back to their previous jobs if it’s too difficult or stressful for them.