On 16 Jul 2015 at 7:45pm Fairmeadow wrote:
Last week they all brayed in support of George Osborne's plan that all other public sector workers should get no more than 1% pay increases for the next 4 years.
This week they award themselves 10%.
You don't need to know anything else about them to know them. Especially about George Osborne.
On 16 Jul 2015 at 7:57pm Country Boy wrote:
Did they award themselves? I don't think so.
On 16 Jul 2015 at 8:06pm Fairmeadow wrote:
As good as.
They set up a special commission to decide how much they should be paid. They haven't done that for any other group of public sector workers - police, firemen, hospital consultants or judges. Where they had such groups before they closed them. But they think they are special.
On 16 Jul 2015 at 8:11pm Historian wrote:
Maria must think she's won the lottery, with all that money ! Bit of a difference in her old salary.
On 16 Jul 2015 at 8:23pm angry from Lewes wrote:
I am absolutely disgusted by this yet again.
I work for local authority where i never got a pay rise for 4 years, then i got 1% followed by a further 4 years of 1%
The sooner we get a decent opposition leader in who has a backbone, the sooner we can get this lot of buffoons out
On 16 Jul 2015 at 8:46pm Mavis wrote:
Thank your lucky stars you're not a Greek, @angry
On 16 Jul 2015 at 9:04pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
It's disgraceful, accepting 10% while expecting the very poorest in the country to have no rise at all for 4 years and restricting the public sector to 1%.
Total hypocrites. We're all in this together, my @rse.
On 16 Jul 2015 at 10:02pm The Old Mayor wrote:
Its only £74,000 per year ! Oh, and plus expenses !! 
On 16 Jul 2015 at 10:05pm Border Control wrote:
Are MPs not included in the public sector then ?? If not, why not ?
Feel a petition coming on !
On 17 Jul 2015 at 6:02am Call me 'Dave' wrote:
I see the Politics of Envy is rearing it's ugly head again.
Why can't you be happy for rich people for once in your miserable little lives?
That's it, I'm going to outlaw political parties that aren't funded by wealthy people.
On 17 Jul 2015 at 6:25am The Old Mayor wrote:
Actually, i was wondering if Maria Caulfield would ever qualify for any other position at that salary !
On 17 Jul 2015 at 7:29am Normans Wisdom wrote:
There has only ever been one mp that was worth that level of salary. 
No, it's not Maria Caulfield either. Knock a couple of noughts off the end and that would reflect her worth more fairly.
On 17 Jul 2015 at 7:35am Mark wrote:
Wasn't it 11% last year? With many voices in the Commons calling out that "it was preposterous" and then shrugging their shoulders and accepting it anyway.
On 17 Jul 2015 at 7:37am CauliflowerEar wrote:
Hear Maria Cauliflower on woman's hour, Radio 4, last week... she said she was working out her notice as a nurse, but intended to carry on in some capacity within the NHS as well as continuing to do her sheep herding stuff. Does she not get it, being an M.P. and especially one who is stepping into Norman's shoes - means that you have to work full time for us. That is what the job is and what she is being paid for.
On 17 Jul 2015 at 8:11am Taff wrote:
They are all called Jack and they are alright. Thankyou Margaret!
On 17 Jul 2015 at 9:37am bastian wrote:
I think the divide is very clear, it really is Us and Them. We didn't make that divide, the government did, and shamelessly because they think they are worth it, and we are not.
I think the contempt for the electorate from these old Etonians is disgusting and further proves that your vote means nothing when it is the banks and business that run our country, not the elected government.
We do need a leader with a backbone, that young scottish MP who speaks with a clear mind, I would vote for her.
On 17 Jul 2015 at 9:49am Merlin Milner wrote:
I think it more about what the job of being and MP is worth. I have added a link to University heads salaries. For example 'the biggest earner in 2013-14 was the head of Nottingham Trent University whose total benefits were £623,000'.
Check it out here »
On 17 Jul 2015 at 10:26am Belladonna wrote:
MPs should be paid an average salary - currently about £26 k a year. All their office/secretarial work should be run by a civil servant. There should be a parliamentary hostel for overnight stays (no London second homes allowances). Travel expenses incurred on constituency work allowable. But no fares to and from the workplace (parliament) if commutable (as Lewes is). A subsidised canteen - ok.
Nurses and teachers have in the last few years had the pay review agreements ignored by government. Funny how they can do that but not ignore their own 10pc rise recommendation. Nasty
On 17 Jul 2015 at 10:28am Belladonna wrote:
Running a university is NOT comparable to being an MP
On 17 Jul 2015 at 10:40am Clifford wrote:
Belladonna wrote: 'Running a university is NOT comparable to being an MP'
No, running a university these days is more like running a business trying to get as many high-fee overseas students in as possible. Whereas being an MP is more like being a trained whippet voting to order.
On 17 Jul 2015 at 11:00am Local Person wrote:
I don't care what other people get paid. MP's took a public service job, knowing what the wages were. They argue why other public should not get a large rise, and so should follow suit. The idea that low wages only attract idiots is insulting to people on low wages, candidates, and voters, who actually chose MP's. I would like to see a national paper look at what MP's (and their very helpful family members) actually earn from various sources, and then compare that with a list of any MP's who refuse the pay rise, or redirect it.
On 17 Jul 2015 at 11:26am Old Bloke wrote:
Wonder how many of you are railing against the salaries of BBC big wigs and certain presenters, CEO's in local government, CEO's of HA's, and CEO's of various charities
Much as I think most MPs worthy of a pay cut rather than a rise those listed above are obscenely overpaid
On 17 Jul 2015 at 12:22pm Paul Newman wrote:
It seems to me that MPs are conspicuously under-paid and we are fortunate not to have the endemic corruption many other countries do.
Either way its like children squabbling about the marble that just rolled off the deck of the Titanic. Our National Debt is £1.6 trillion I would worry about that.
I
On 17 Jul 2015 at 1:29pm Taff wrote:
We workers are given incentives so why not do the same for the politicians. Get a bonus for low unemployment, a reduction in salary for high. Simples!
On 17 Jul 2015 at 3:09pm Bob wrote:
OB, whilst I agree that the people you mention are overpaid, the reason all the positions you mention are obscenely overpaid is because the salaries have to complete with the private sector in order to attract the best and brightest talent.
It's not the same with an MP's salary, which is supposed to attract those with a public service calling and NOT people looking just to make themselves a quick buck.
It's like comparing apples with oranges. (Needless to say, however, if the private sector paid their 'fat cats' less, then the organisations you mention could do likewise.)
And PN, what on earth are you on about (again)?! The size of the National Debt is largely the fault of successive governments, so if they can't get that in order (i.e. do their job) why in God's name do they deserve a pay rise?!
On 17 Jul 2015 at 3:39pm Local Person wrote:
Although it is another issue, I certainly don't support how many people are paid, (both high and low) and don't support the idea (often used in Financial Services) that we need to pay them very high wages or they will stop working with us in the UK and go elsewhere (sounds a little bit like what the Unions are criticised for doing....) To me the main point is that if an MP is a public servant ( and I think they are), is the discrepancy between their own pay rise and that of their decision to limit other Public Servant pay rises, legitimate, fair or ethical (I don't think it is) . I also want to know more about the financial benefits that many MP's enjoy, beyond just the wage. I would like to see some financial analysis of what is actually going on. We know that some MP's milk the system, and we know that others are very honorable. I would like to know who is doing what, and see if how that relates to what that particular MP says about this issue. One could for example point out that when quite a lot of MP's were earning a lot more through expenses claims, that excellent financial gain didn't seem to me to guarantee the best MP's.
On 17 Jul 2015 at 3:41pm Old Bloke wrote:
@Bob - "the best & brightest talent"
Exactly what some of the banks said as they went down the pan
Didn't quite work them them did it?
All of those mentioned are way overpaid and there'll be plenty out there capable of doing a better job for far less
On 17 Jul 2015 at 4:11pm bastian wrote:
Actually, I think the MP's should work under the same rules as the rest of us, which is that if you ask for more, you get told "you're replacable".
On 17 Jul 2015 at 4:25pm Pearliegirliestar wrote:
There is a petition on change.org.
On 17 Jul 2015 at 5:19pm trooper wrote:
@ LP I see you use the words "public servant" I am quite sure that MPs do NOT see themselves as servants quite the opposite they see us as requiring their leadership. In ref to your wanting to know about other benefits, I was recently at H of C, and purchased a glass of wine for £1:75 in my local it is over £4:00 enough said I think.
On 17 Jul 2015 at 5:45pm Local Person wrote:
Yes, Trooper I think in many cases you are right, MP's who do not see that they are publicly paid public servants, just like I do not see myself as putting on weight and getting old. So if I am an MP who has just 4 drinks a week, and buys 2 for friends, that is the equivalent of an extra £700 a year cash to put in the bank. Obviously a very approximate example, but these are people telling nurses,(who manage the effects of things like liver damage) that they are not worth an extra pound or two. Whatever happened to leading by example?
On 18 Jul 2015 at 12:28am All in it Together? Bull wrote:
Paul Newman the Tory Party is entirely corrupt being the worst Political Party in power for well over a 100 years. You obviously take the average person for idiots. The Tories only got in to power because they winged so much about their made up concerns on 'National Security' and then used that to secretly trash the ballot system..
On 18 Jul 2015 at 8:08am Reality wrote:
Check out the pay of our local authority big wigs or top NHS managers, or many more top public sector workers maybe that'll put MP's wages in to perspective!
MP's only earning 25% more than Tube drivers!
On 18 Jul 2015 at 11:07am Mark wrote:
25% more... plus the lucrative "cash for access" second job and the expenses for moat maintenance and the second home in London.
On 18 Jul 2015 at 12:35pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
And the salary for your other half ... and maybe your grown-up kids...
On 19 Jul 2015 at 6:08pm bastian wrote:
The right wingers always force us to look at the top wages-how about looking at the bottom 2/3rds, many local government workers are on just above the minimum wage, and they do an efficient job, only to be thwarted on occasions by the over paid at the top (given the managementt system we all have to work under now)
Your average wage for council workers is no where near what an MP earns, nor even a teacher or nurse even.
So can we please stop trying to subvert the deatial with Daily Mail style headlines and actually look at the real income for most workers. Witht he kind of local politicians we have in lewes, I do not think a pay rise in order when services ahve been run inot the ground.
On 20 Jul 2015 at 8:10am Reality wrote:
Bastion are you suggesting that MPs should earn the same as any other council worker, or indeed that we should all earn the same.... How very communist, your true colours?
The living wage has just been announced finally & well done to all that lobbied for it. BUT MPs do not earn a ridiculous amount compared to other Public Figures, this should be discussed as it is our money & so much is wasted on sickeningly high salaries.
Don't let your obvious grievance about those we elect cloud the fact that a huge amount of public money is wasted elsewhere