I wasnt referring to you when i said paper pusher! nor in fact you specifically in any of my posts.. just ranting!!!
Too many people want to do it. Laws of supply and demand drive wages down. And too many rich bankers wives do it as a pastime, also driving wages down too. That's just how it is.
Is this really what it comes down too, Politics, Darwinshite and religion, winter is the root of all evil roll on fecking spring.
Touch wood I have never had a Ducati break down on me yet in 11yrs of ownership And on that note I'll bid you all good night before I break down
Regardless of their personal integrity or whatever, it amazes me that people think two extremely experienced senior government figures should be happy living on £67k. That sort of wage gets you a very 'normal' lifestyle living in London on a par with half that figure living outside London and these people are hardly bus drivers or restaurant workers are they? Speed_Triple: Living in Richmond ( I think I read that on one of the pages?), you must have paid off your home and spent a lot of time alone or ignoring other people to think like this. Rent on a two bedroom house is £2000 - £2500 a month around here and the only way there's any possibility of owning your own place is with a substantial deposit which is incredibly hard to save if you are on £67k living in London (and not wasting all your money on motorbikes like me ). I moved into London for a job paying just a little less and my lifestyle was probably of a lower standard than when I was on half that wage living outside of London. The motivation was the potential to earn more after I had got a few years experience. I have worked damn hard and now earn enough to finance Ducati and KTMs coffee budget but I am a universe away from rubbing shoulders with people that are running the country and have influence around the world so do not expect those people to earn my wage. I pay a lot of tax and I am more than happy to do so as I consider my present lifestyle good and I want to support the country. I'm also proud to work for a company run by a guy who pays more tax than just about anyone else in the country when he could easily base the company in some tax haven like many other similar companies. On the other hand I grew up in Cornwall where the average wage is around £15k and I feel well off when I go back down to family. I can certainly understand peoples reluctance to pay tax if they can get away with it as the average wage in those parts is not enough to live without considerable stress, and understand also why they fall for the media bait, but a senior government figure earning more than £67k is not the problem.
How much a government minister earns from other occupations isn't an issue for me. Lots of people have more than one source of income. I would rather that MP's were paid more with fewer of them and a simplified and transparent expenses system. But I can't see that its a bad thing that politicians have other occupations in addition to politics. It is entirely appropriate that they should be able to bring to Parliamentary roles skills and experiences gained from careers outside politics. There are dozens of MPs of all ranks from all parties who do that honourably and long may it continue. Nor is it wrong that they should want to keep their professional careers alive while in office. Being a politician is a perilous occupation that can be very short lived and subject to sudden termination. I wouldn't want to see purely professional politicians with no outside interests or wider professional experience getting their feet permanently under the table. But the case in point isn't about politicians bringing their experience of the real world into politics and applying that knowledge in the service of government, its the reverse: its taking their privileged access to government and influence over its processes out into the commercial world and offering it for hire for personal gain. Or in this case letting it be known that they would be willing to do so. That is a different matter altogether.
Yes, yes. Yes. But you are missing one important point: If you get taken on by a company, as say, a director with a responsible job, that same company would take a pretty dim view of your continuing to work for various other companies, if they considered their job to be a full-time job. Indeed, they might think that if you had time to work for other people, then you weren't doing enough work for them, especially as it's not a 9 to 5. We should be happy that MPs have outside experience, but like any other job, they should bring that experience with them, not acquire it while they are doing their MP job. If you don't like this set-up, don't become an MP. What is so hard to understand about that? That's what I didn't get about the insufferable Riffkind. He's known for years what the deal is, but he seems to think that he is entitled to more. When most people feel they are entitled to more, they change jobs and get a higher paying one which makes them happier. They don't start moonlighting.
But did you complete five years' education post-18 to do so? Contrary to popular belief journalists to not earn huge sums - even on nationals, where a very small proportion of them ply their trade - unless they are politicians or celebrities moonlighting of course!
When I was a staffer on nationals I had to sign a contract that explicitly barred me from seeking ANY other paid employment.
You assume that I own my own home or rent privately, need two bedrooms and can and want to live a glitzy lifestyle. Best not to assume. As for spending a lot of time alone or ignoring other people, it would be difficult to have a career as a journalist while shutting oneself away from the world, would you not agree?
i don't give a monkey's how much you or anyone else makes for that matter never have. unless it's by ill gotten gains of coarse
Such as failing to declare cash income, as SOME in service industries do - not saying you are guilty of that by the way because I have no idea whether you do or don't. But I am sick of being piously lectured by lefties who wouldn't dream of giving a penny to charity and think they have a right to keep every penny they earn simply because they see themselves as downtrodden members of the working class. Believe me, the only ordinary people who earn well in London these days seem to be bankers and people at the top of their profession or builders and plumbers - not least because those in the latter category either always have plenty of work or don't pay tax or NI.
