Brown's lose-lose position will prevent our broken politics from being fixed

r pennings

so our esteemed leader is going to give our mp,s 8 quid a day extra and only 34 pence a day extra to the pensioners i hope the pensioners on the end of this pittance will remember which way to vote
disgraceful

Chris lancashire

You are quite right that MP's salaries deserve review. The current pay of £66-67k is as seriously underpaid as the average local government chief exec (Town Clerk) is overpaid (£200k). It has also lead to the stealth remuneration by expenses system.
Scrap the expenses and pay them £120k with London accommodation and office services provided.

Don

The problem facing MP's is that they have taken on the role of overpaid social workers. Over the last 12 years they have been reduced to lobby fodder with little to no oversight of legislation. They would eat there own feet if ordered to do so by their whips.
Until they stop being social workers and start to hold the Government to account they are vastly overpaid for what they actually do, as opposed to what they are supposed to do.

Liz Brown

As I do not see that MP's do a good days work for the salary and expenses already received, I object strongly any attempt to pay them more. Nothing is properly scrutinised (esp stuff that oozes out of Europe) and Legislation, such as it is, is so poorly drafted that the whole thing has become a total nonsense. Once we have brought back power to Parliament(from Brussels) (and NOT the Executive) then maybe we can re examine the case for an increase in salary

Carl Sanderson

How CAN MPs be underpaid? There are hundreds of applications for each vacancy.

Nicholas

Another desperate gimmick from the King of Gimmicks in a bid to turn the tide.

Dorothy Wilson

"The current pay of £66-67k is as seriously underpaid as the average local government chief exec (Town Clerk) is overpaid (£200k)."

That might be the case if they were up to the job they are supposed to be doing. Even a cursory watching of the Parliament channel reveals that most of them are not. In fact, there are a good many of them who would struggle to get a job as a photocopier operator.

If a case is to be made for an increase in salary the taxpayers need to know that they are getting value for money with people of the right sort of calibre.

Judy

MPs are not executives. They are representatives of the electorate. They need to be competent speakers and scrutineers of documents and arguments, as well as competent pursuers of and followers up of their constituents' questions and complaints. Their present salaries are generous in comparison with equivalent work done by inspectors and assessors. They have extremely generous provision for administrative and other technical support.

The public will not wear pay rises in excess of what the rest of us are being asked to bear. If either Brown or Cameron agrees to generous pay rises in return for curtailment of over-and-above the rest of us expenses, the result will be more refusal to participate and more votes given to fringe protest parties like UKIP and the BNP.

The impact on our democracy of such a move would be catastrophic.

It's clear enough that Gordon Brown doesn't get it. David Cameron has a mixed track record. Signing up for anything above what the rest of us are having to deal with will make a mockery of any attempts to use "We're all in this together" as a slogan for post election cuts.

Too many of the commentariat are either of or too close to the Westminster world of assumptions about entitlements to income and lifestyle that 95% of the rest of us know is not going to come our way, however hard we try.

No-one begrudges the genuinely talented and successful their money. But MPs are not in this class. In this expenses row, some of the worst and most shameful statements have come from those with inherited wealth in addition to what they've ripped off the electorate, as well as those on the Labour side who've used high office to enrich themselves whilst denying that's what they've done.

simon too

How very strange! I had not noticed Gordon Brown wearing an Old Etonian tie before I saw the photograph at the top of this piece.

Dave B

Isn't cutting minister's salaries something Mr Cameron mentioned? Is this a case of New Labour taking policies from the Conservatives?

MGR

The root of the problem is that they are paid as though they are employees. They should be independent, above all independent of the Crown which means they should be self-employed. Many self-employed professionals charge an annual or monthly retainer which covers all their costs - salary, expenses, office, staff, tax etc. It is not for the principal to enquire how they spend their fees; it is enough that a fee has been agreed in advance for the work that is to be done.
Why should we not ask candidates for election to quote the annual fee that they want for representing us so that we can decide how much we want to pay our own particular Member? There is no reason why the rich member for Kensington and Chelsea should be paid the same as an inpecunious member for Carlisle. If the fee were to be collected as a surcharge on the rates in each constituency the cost would not be more than about £5 per household.

Amadeus Plonquer

MGR - what a stupid idea - paying MPs according to how much money they have in their bank account. Next we'llhave pubs charging for beer by how much you have in your wallet....

Wait a minute....

Richard Jacobs

Bearing in mind how Parliament has contributed to the appalling financial and social problems in the country, any assessment of MP's and Ministers value should be by reference to the successful fulfilment of their duties. on that basis i can see no justification for any salary whatsoever.