Jack Straw retires from parliament

[Bobby Hundreds]

I earn over 60k a year... In benefits, the crack I sell is pure profit.. ENTERPRISE.

[Lee909]

I applaud you

Entrepreneurs is what this country needs

[Bobby Hundreds]

Trickle down effect, spoon and tin foil sales have gone through the roof in my area as has home security business fitting more and more burglar alarms, insurance companies too. With the money I make from heroin I invest in these areas I've also wrote to my mp and asked them to advocate private healthcare and a privitised police force. Ive already invested in the private ambulance services and since violent drug crime has gone up so has my wealth. It's all very neat. I'm thinking of starting like a crack Avon service.

[Lee909]

Buy the local community centre and turn it into a private prison and the local undertakers too. May aswell wrap up all ends of the market.

[Section_31]

IIRC, two-thirds of MPs take a pay cut to enter the House of Commons.

 

I'd be interested to see how many here would take a pay cut to become an MP.

I don't necessarily think people get into politics to make money, but when the opportunity presents itself many seem ever willing to use their status to aggrandise themselves. There's seemingly no shame in building property portfolios or taking a cheeky donation, because that's what we'd all do given the chance, our rulers reflect the country.

[Bobby Hundreds]

It's what comes after politics it's like an apprenticeship to big bucks. They command higher fees once they've been MPs. 8 grand for a half day to listen to rimstink give a presentation.

[Gnasher]

Jack Straws sprog is going to be an mp after the next election, as is tony Blairs, god help us.

[Gnasher]

Stronts point is valid. Pay mps the going rate and tell them no other jobs whilst payed by the taxpayer. We can't have it both ways.

[dennis tooth]

Good. Everything that's wrong with modern day British politics can be found in this little weasel. From stonewalling the hillsbourgh investigation, taking us into illegal war in Iraq, stopping the aberfan trust from having the money taken from them by the govt over 40 years ago. That's three off the top of my head.

 

He's on my fucking tele now looking pleased with himself as if he's still got a Rupert Murdoch dildo shoved up his arse. Says he's going to write another book. We'll I'm putting myself forward as ghostwriter, I'm not the most of intelligent of fellas and I'm certainly no great scibe but i think I can manage this one, and here it is in full...

 

 

I Jack cuntybollocks Straw am an utter cunt. The end.

 

 

Yah!

 

Sacrifice a few aged lambs so the farm system can remain.

 

They could have set up the sting on any MP going and they would all have been 'open for business' to rich people thats 'capitalist democracy'.

[Stu Monty]

IIRC, two-thirds of MPs take a pay cut to enter the House of Commons.

 

I'd be interested to see how many here would take a pay cut to become an MP.

Are we including expenses, wages for family, wages from directorships etc. and the profit from flipping your property in these assessments of being less well off?

[Strontium]

Well, not all MPs do those things, and profit from second homes on which mortgage payments have been claimed now has to be paid back, of course. Voters should examine their MP's expenses and vote accordingly. My cousin stood in Sefton last time on a platform of claiming the bare minimum in expenses and only got 20% of the vote in third, so that gives you an idea of how much the general public cares about these things.

[A Red]

Fuckin Jack Straw, you could just see the smugness and self satisfaction oozing out of the grasping twat. "unblemished record, I sorted it out in Ukraine, going to be a lord you know"

 

Fuckin Rifkin held up as "a damn fine foreign secretary" by Jeffrey fucking Archer.

[Skidfingers McGonical]

IIRC, two-thirds of MPs take a pay cut to enter the House of Commons.

 

I'd be interested to see how many here would take a pay cut to become an MP.

 

Well I am sure if any of us on here did it, the majority would be getting a pretty substantial pay rise as opposed to taking a pay cut.

[stringvest]

Are we including expenses, wages for family, wages from directorships etc. and the profit from flipping your property in these assessments of being less well off?

 

MPs don't get paid enough to ensure that you're going to attract people with the appropriate experience and capability without them having the opportunity to do something else as well.   Wages from directorships would be included in the 'something else'. Expenses and flipping are being clamped down on.  

 

If you want high calibre MPs, you've either got to pay them appropriately, or allow them to have ways of supplementing their income.  I am in favour of increasing their salaries and precluding them for earning anything else for their time as MP.  If we paid them £150K a year, with tightly controlled expenses, that should be enough to widen the pool to include people with other careers who may want to take time out to become MPs.  Ministers should get a small additional premium, but not the differential that they currently enjoy.  

[Gnasher]

Fuckin Jack Straw, you could just see the smugness and self satisfaction oozing out of the grasping twat. "unblemished record, I sorted it out in Ukraine, going to be a lord you know"

 

Fuckin Rifkin held up as "a damn fine foreign secretary" by Jeffrey fucking Archer.

If Rifkin is good enough for Jeffrey Archer he's good enough for the boys in Strangeways.

[dennis tooth]

Well, not all MPs do those things, and profit from second homes on which mortgage payments have been claimed now has to be paid back, of course. Voters should examine their MP's expenses and vote accordingly. My cousin stood in Sefton last time on a platform of claiming the bare minimum in expenses and only got 20% of the vote in third, so that gives you an idea of how much the general public cares about these things.

 

Its more about the 'open for business' part not if an individual mp has done this or that.

 

Democracy and capitalsim are a bird and a cat. One will eat the other every time. You have to be well indoctro educated enough to not notice the obvious.

[dennis tooth]

IIRC, two-thirds of MPs take a pay cut to enter the House of Commons.

 

I'd be interested to see how many here would take a pay cut to become an MP.

 

And two thirds have second jobs while MP's sitting on boards and lots of future income as a guest podium wanker or seminar speaker.

 

Which employer pays to employ people who are off 5 months of the year can take a second and third job, pays for their expenses, their kids, their homes, their transport, etc, etc, etc without expecting any loyalty back? the taxpayer. 

[Razoray]

IIRC, two-thirds of MPs take a pay cut to enter the House of Commons.

 

I'd be interested to see how many here would take a pay cut to become an MP.

Are you including the 177k expenses in that cut?

 

Edit: Stu M got there before me and more eloquently.

[Moctezuma]

Well, not all MPs do those things, and profit from second homes on which mortgage payments have been claimed now has to be paid back, of course. Voters should examine their MP's expenses and vote accordingly. My cousin stood in Sefton last time on a platform of claiming the bare minimum in expenses and only got 20% of the vote in third, so that gives you an idea of how much the general public cares about these things.

 

People don't only vote on that premise at an election though, so it would depend on what else he was advocating. Also I distinctly seem to remember that a good chunk of those caught with their hand in the till in 2008 only paid back a portion of what they had appropriated from the state.

 

[dennis tooth]

Ah the old 'expenses' 'few bad apples' diversion from the wholly corrupt system.

 

I miss that.

[Moctezuma]

MPs don't get paid enough to ensure that you're going to attract people with the appropriate experience and capability without them having the opportunity to do something else as well.   Wages from directorships would be included in the 'something else'. Expenses and flipping are being clamped down on.  

 

If you want high calibre MPs, you've either got to pay them appropriately, or allow them to have ways of supplementing their income.  I am in favour of increasing their salaries and precluding them for earning anything else for their time as MP.  If we paid them £150K a year, with tightly controlled expenses, that should be enough to widen the pool to include people with other careers who may want to take time out to become MPs.  Ministers should get a small additional premium, but not the differential that they currently enjoy.  

 

I understand the rationale behind this to a certain extent* but the average salary in the UK is £26,500 do you really want to be paying elected representatives 5 to 6 times the amount their constituents are getting? Wouldn't that divorce them to an extent from the average voters problems?

 

 

 

* I agree that other professions enable people to earn a lot more whilst not being anywhere near as scrutinised by the public (who I may add seem to have an inflated view of MP's capabilities) and that by paying them more would inure them from influence from outside sources to a greater extent.

 

[dennis tooth]

Whats he talking about there 'appropriate experience and capability ' Im pretty sure if you picked up a few homeless tramps in a van and drove them down to paarliment,  paid them the minimum wage, they could do a better fucking job than these plebs. In fact since they wouldnt have any real vested interests and could just represent normal views.

Get some Billy ray valentines in and get rid of all these hooray henrys slobbering over our notion of democracy with the open door law flaw thats only closed to the poor and powerless.

 

Oh tactical voting to 'stop a tory' is overestimating your own voting strength of one. Which never changed anything. Voting is a way of neutralising the public like removing a dogs balls. Its a contract you sign to consent to all this circus.

[Gnasher]

I'm not sure if I'm more surprised that Jack Straw thinks he's worth 5 grand a day or someone might be willing to pay him 5 grand a day to listen to the shit he talks.

[stringvest]

I understand the rationale behind this to a certain extent* but the average salary in the UK is £26,500 do you really want to be paying elected representatives 5 to 6 times the amount their constituents are getting? Wouldn't that divorce them to an extent from the average voters problems?

* I agree that other professions enable people to earn a lot more whilst not being anywhere near as scrutinised by the public (who I may add seem to have an inflated view of MP's capabilities) and that by paying them more would inure them from influence from outside sources to a greater extent.

We're not talking about Hoorays here. If you are paid to properly dedicate your time to the service of your constituents and to contribute to decisions made in the interest of the country as a whole, it doesn't mean that you don't understand the hardships that people on average wages or below are suffering. To carry that idea to its conclusion means that we would have the prime minister on £26k and queuing up in Aldi on a Saturday morning. In the case of Cameron, that would probably be a good idea, but Cameron wouldn't be deterred by it as he has plenty of assets to isolate him from the great unwashed.

 

 

[dennis tooth]

I dont think its about understanding, they know exactly what their policies do, I think thats what gets people.

 

They dont act as representatives, they act as a few hundred small dictators. The salary is part of the problem, do you think if Cameron had to live in dingle he would be beaten into taking on the banks instead of the jobcentre 'scroungers'. Its worth a try since its not working as is.