It’s a full time job!
It’s a full time job! - Well that’s what our MPs keep telling us - some of them claim to be working up to 70 hours a week! So they deserve the salary (about £64,000 pa).
It’s a full time job - surely - as a government minister, after all they are running the country and therefore they deserve a decent salary - and they get it (though they forfeit the basic £64K).
So the question has to be asked that if being an MP is a full time job and being a government minister is a full time job - how can they possibly do both?! They will tell you that they have “Parliamentry Private Secretaries”who do thier basic constituency work while they are in government. But these PPSs are themselves MPs - supposedly working up to 70 hours a week on thier own constituency work. So how do these, obviously miraculous, individuals manage to do the job of thier bosses as well. Do they really work up to 140 hours a week?
Answer - OF COURSE THEY DON’T!!!
And it doesn’t stop there…..
I shall however divert my attention from these “hard working"PPSs and ministers - let’s look at three ordinary MPs - well two backbenchers and a very prominent front bench spokesman.
Diane Abbott MP (Labour, Hackney and Stoke Newington). Now I like Diane, I think she comes over really well on BBCs “This Week”with Michael Portilo and Andrew Neal. In the 2009 calander year she earned a tasty £26,000 or so from this source. Here she works late into the night, on top of her up to 70 hours a week daytime job remember! But there’s more. She also made £1,250 for writing an article for the Guardian, £3,500 in lecture fees, £1,650 for other TV appearances and £785 for other articles written. A busy girl!
How about Tory MP Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Tony is known as “Baldric”in his constituency. He manages to hold down 7 directorships ( mostly non-exec) for which he received some £42,000 last year. Tony is also a praticing barrister and raked in fees of over £37,000 for this in 2009. A busy boy, but he does need to afford his italy ski vacations somehow now that he can’t ’charge it’!
On to the much revered Dr. Vince Cable MP (Lib Dem, Twickenham). Now before I start on this well respected man I must point out that Vince gave away more of his fees to charity than he actually kept himself - a good man! He still kept £23,333 for writing a column in The Mail on Sunday and a £2,068 book advance (he’s since received a further £23,000 royalty) and £500 from The Times. A busy man (we can’t call Vince a boy!).
No wonder so many people are unemployed - the MPs have got all the jobs!
Source:- The Register of Member’s Interests (UK Government)
Comments are closed!