The expenses scandal

[wellinghall]

[Poll #1401674]
And while we're at it, I'll point you towards today's Matt:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/matt/

Comments

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

The problem is that if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

[alitalf.livejournal.com]

They may claim to be paid peanuts, but the vast majority of UK citizens have to get by on a fraction of their income. It does make sense to pay them enough so that they should have less incentive for corruption, but I also feel uncomfortabel that they have little real understanding of how normal peoplelive.

Some MPs could do a real-world job that paid as much or perhaps considerably more than they get as MPs, but I suspect that many would not manage to do any other job nearly as well paid as their present one. In that sense, pay lots more than peanuts, and still get monkeys.

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

Well, we could move the whole shebang out of London - probably to the Midlands - and save a whole lot of money.

On the other hand, there has been strong feeling against anyone holding another job outside parliament. You pays your money, you takes your choice.

I am really, really scared that we will go down the anti-intellectual American route.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I wholly agree.

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

At my old firm (which paid very poorly for an accountancy firm), we made this point to one of the partners once. He replied "And if you pay truffles, you get pigs".