The toxic subject of MP's pay yet again reared its ugly head again today. At a time when just about everybody is feeling the pinch as never before, I am truly astonished to learn that despite the intention of the Prime Minister to scupper any pay rise for the current crop of 650 MPs, the majority of them will vote against him on the grounds that £66,000 (not including expenses of course) is not enough pay for the job they do. I suspect that but for the unrivalled levels of apathy in our country today, these "public servants" would be hung drawn and quartered and publicly flogged.
I don't doubt that they work hard but even after tax, £66,000 ought to be more than enough to serve the public. There was a time when politics was dominated by the landed gentry whose personal wealth was such that they probably did do this job for a pittance - relatively speaking. Imagine my mirth today then when the charmer par excellence, Nick Clegg, stuck his neck out and announced that he would oppose a pay rise. With an estimated personal wealth knocking on the door of £2million, this gesture assumes less than generous proportions. The point here is that our Parliament is now riddled with career politicians whose personal fortunes are so far in excess of their MP salary as to render it largely cosmetic.
It has been pointed out that compared to other leading figures in the Public Sector, the salary of an average MP is actually quite low. As the Chief Executive of the Birmingham Children's Hospital, the wife of the outgoing Sir David Nicholson earns a basic wage over double that of an MP. I read today that several BBC executives have received sums well in excess of £66,000 just as severance for leaving. As I struggle to make some sense of all this, I begin to wonder whether it is the rest of the country which has gone mad or is it me?
It seems as though the divide between the haves and the have-nots is growing at an alarming rate with the haves staunchly inhabiting the higher eschelons of the Public Sector. Public servants now come at a price - and what a price! Has the time come to seriously weigh up their worth against their pay? I often wonder how many of them would choose their current jobs if they had to sort out their own money purchase pension? Rather less I suspect.
The recent proliferation of food banks has generated a good deal of social comment with the majority viewing their growth as an indictment of our times. The counter argument says that they are the result of communities working together to support the least fortunate. The problem is that the dependence on the Welfare State has predominated for such a long time that many have grown to depend upon it. Frankly, you can't blame them. On a similar note, the current strain on the NHS is also a reflection of long term dependence. Famously, it was created in the aftermath of the Second World War with the promise that it would be free at the point of access to everyone. If I opened a food shop tomorrow and advertised it as being free at the point of access to everyone, I very much doubt if my produce would see out the day!
I'd love to see what Dickens would think....
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