Lucrative extra roles for politicians encourage the Tory establishment to serve the interests of big business – not the public
The phrase used to describe the scandal enveloping parliament – “MPs’ second jobs” – is indicative of the problem. Being an MP is not a “job”, it is a public service. In exchange for the privilege of representing your community and helping to determine the future direction of your country, you are handed a publicly funded salary of nearly £82,000, placing you in the top 5% of earners, pulling in around three times the average wage. That is beyond anything most Britons will ever hope to earn, and indeed is a sum of money the vast majority of us think qualifies you as rich.
It is, of course, important that MPs are paid for their service: until 1911 they were not, and the then new Labour party was at the forefront of demanding an allowance so working-class candidates could afford to be parliamentarians. In 2021, there can be few supermarket shelf-stackers or cleaners who are deterred from a life in politics by an excessively low pay packet.
Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist
from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3wJk6DO
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