Allowancesgate: Danger - Parliamentary Freeloaders At Work

It is reported in the media today that some of Britain’s Parliamentary Parasites, not content with demanding inflation-busting pay rises, are now asking for an extra £5 million of taxpayers’ money to help them cope with “answering emails and dealing with constituents”! That’s £5 million between then – not each – by the way! Our elected “representatives” will vote next week on a proposal very close to their hearts – although “close to their wallets” would be a little more accurate – when they vote on awarding themselves a backdated pay rise which will be substantially better that the 1.9% offered to other public employees including nurses and police.
But it doesn’t end there. It is further reported that the Senior Salaries Review Body, which makes recommendations for MPs’ pay, has buckled before pressure from some politicians and will call for millions of pounds of extra spending on staff allowances allegedly to “help MPs cope with more emails and constituency casework”! According to one senior politician: “Emails and websites are increasing exponentially with a large number of non-parliamentary websites encouraging people to fax their MP, email their MP - and we are constantly being asked to write letters or articles for blog sites.” As a result of this, it is now proposed that the amount of taxpayers’ money that MPs can claim for staff (which often includes family members) should increase from a paltry £90,505 per annum to £96,630 for MPs who employ staff outside London and £102,650 for those in the capital! Altogether the increase comes to some £5 million to be met out of our taxes.
In addition one Labour MP has reportedly called for the setting up of a trade union to represent MPs interests! No – we kid you not – this is absolutely true! The Labour MP concerned, who is a lifelong member of the National Union Of Mineworkers, is quoted as saying: “If the management came along and said, ‘I am going to take things off you, I would be first on the picket line.” To which a Tory MP is said to have joked that if MPs went on strike, “the whole country would clap and cheer, and be quite happy for us to stay out for the next couple of decades”. Too right we would!