Current basic salary for an MP is £82k and in the view of most folk that's a job they should be focused on. You'd think that looking after your constituents would be a full time job in itself but MPs - of all parties - have supplemented their incomes with second and third jobs from time immemorial.
I can't see how Paterson for example could realistically be looking after his constituents when he's out of the country for months at a time. And perhaps more pertinently who are these MPs actually representing? Their constituents or their employers?
And would those employers bother to employ them or invite them on to their boards in the first place if they didn't think that they could influence political decisions or lobby on their behalf?
Six years ago Ed Milliband proposed that if you want to be an MP you should not be allowed to have another job - being and MP is the job.
Obviously the Tory government didn't approve and there's little chance of them approving such a measure now but surely the advantages of such a move massively outweigh the disadvantages - if there are any.
Not only would it be a small step towards reducing corruption but it would improve the representation of the people and you never know - some of these MPs might actually find out what's going on in the real world
What do you think?
I can't see how Paterson for example could realistically be looking after his constituents when he's out of the country for months at a time. And perhaps more pertinently who are these MPs actually representing? Their constituents or their employers?
And would those employers bother to employ them or invite them on to their boards in the first place if they didn't think that they could influence political decisions or lobby on their behalf?
Six years ago Ed Milliband proposed that if you want to be an MP you should not be allowed to have another job - being and MP is the job.
Obviously the Tory government didn't approve and there's little chance of them approving such a measure now but surely the advantages of such a move massively outweigh the disadvantages - if there are any.
Not only would it be a small step towards reducing corruption but it would improve the representation of the people and you never know - some of these MPs might actually find out what's going on in the real world
What do you think?