£10k per day please missus … MPs caught out

A parallel step to aiding and abetting foreign powers influencing electoral outcomes and media in the UK.
 
Watched the repeat of a programme originally shown in 2018, WW1: The Final Hours. Lo and behold one of the history experts was Kwasi Kwarteng. When he described Lloyd George as a 'chancer' I laughed out loud. 🤭
 
Not sure what the issue is so far, multiple people work multiple jobs for a variety of reasons. Rules don’t prohibit this.

Also, not a Tory by any stretch - but approaching 20 MPS, 16 of whom are Tories because the register of interests indicate it is mainly Tory MPs with secondary income seems like loading the dice a bit….
The analysis by Sky News and Tortoise found MPs collectively received £17.1m from outside income since the 2019 election, with most of the money going to Conservative politicians. Labour MPs earned a comparatively small £1.2m from outside work, while Liberal Democrat MPs took an additional £171,000 and SNP MPs banked £149,000.

seems about right to me.
 
Not sure what the issue is so far, multiple people work multiple jobs for a variety of reasons. Rules don’t prohibit this.

Also, not a Tory by any stretch - but approaching 20 MPS, 16 of whom are Tories because the register of interests indicate it is mainly Tory MPs with secondary income seems like loading the dice a bit….

Funny, you sound just like a Tory.
 
Not sure what the issue is so far, multiple people work multiple jobs for a variety of reasons. Rules don’t prohibit this.

You really don’t know what the issue is?

The rules need to be changed.
Then maybe we’ll get rid of the leeches who see an MP job as a means to make massive money elsewhere, and we’ll replace them with more people who genuinely want to do good for the individuals and communities they represent.
 
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Not sure what the issue is so far, multiple people work multiple jobs for a variety of reasons. Rules don’t prohibit this.

Also, not a Tory by any stretch - but approaching 20 MPS, 16 of whom are Tories because the register of interests indicate it is mainly Tory MPs with secondary income seems like loading the dice a bit….

Lack of due diligence? Fairness? Morals? The fact they already have a job to do?

I could go on, but primarily these MP's don't care who it is that pay them, only that they do. They are willing to provide the names and contact details of people for cash with no care of how those names will be used.
 
not too shocked by that ( i should be) most people will grab what they can ... funny quoting dollars the changing to pounds
 
I agree the rules need to be changed, but atm the rules allow them to do this.

If you read the Guardian coverage it basically states they all covered the rules and stated their obligation to their constituents. It’s a total non story:

”Tories look to make more money (surprise surprise) and tell recruiters they need to comply with Parliamentary rules”.

I get what you are saying and I agree to an extent, but it most certainly isn’t a non-story, even if that story is simply that MPs believe they are worth tens of thousands of pounds an hour, and what the hell are they doing for that money? Charging simply for providing access to influence?
They think it’s normal to hold down multiple highly paid jobs and roles on top of their primary one. It is not normal.
I wonder how many emails they respond to with similar vague proposals, for such vague work for vague companies, that actually are legitimate offers? We all know it goes on and is technically within the rules, but that doesn’t mean it’s morally, ethically or professionally the correct thing to do.
A large number of Tory MPs (and an ever growing number of MPs of all political parties) are only in it for the opportunities being an MP presents to them, and so long as that is the case, they will never have the interests of the masses at the forefront of their endeavours, and the disconnect between the haves and the have nots will only grow.

It’s high time it was addressed and this shines a light on it, which has to be a good thing. The public acceptance that MPs having multiple roles on boards and as advisers to large companies is probably down to both apathy and a lack of awareness. Surely raising awareness by highlighting the scale of the issue reduces the apathy and is the first step in making changes?

I bet the overwhelming majority of us plebs have it stated in our contracts that we cannot be employed elsewhere while under contract to our current employer. Why should it be any different for them? Haven’t they got enough work to do as it is?
 
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The problem is the rules around having second jobs - they shouldn't be able to unless professionally they have to ie doctors, lawyers etc.

No doubt this stuff goes on all of the time, so no great surprise. The line between consultant and lobbyist is a very murky one though. People generally want a return for their money........
 
The problem is the rules around having second jobs - they shouldn't be able to unless professionally they have to ie doctors, lawyers etc.

No doubt this stuff goes on all of the time, so no great surprise. The line between consultant and lobbyist is a very murky one though. People generally want a return for their money........
There is no need for doctor or lawyer MPs to engage in paid employment to maintain practice certificates. They could do it pro bono. Any regulatory issues can be easily addressed by amending legislation, AKA doing their day jobs!
 
There is no need for doctor or lawyer MPs to engage in paid employment to maintain practice certificates. They could do it pro bono. Any regulatory issues can be easily addressed by amending legislation, AKA doing their day jobs!
Fair comment - but if they were being paid for this type of work for whatever reason in my opinion this would be acceptable under strict conditions. I'm talking about a few grand per year, not £10k day.
 
Meanwhile - if you create a bit of low level vandalism you will be asked to wear a hi viz jacket of shame whilst you clean it up.

Have you worked it out yet?
 
Not sure what the issue is so far, multiple people work multiple jobs for a variety of reasons. Rules don’t prohibit this.

Also, not a Tory by any stretch - but approaching 20 MPS, 16 of whom are Tories because the register of interests indicate it is mainly Tory MPs with secondary income seems like loading the dice a bit….
I'm surprised that you cant see an issue with this.

Even a cursory look at the Nolan Principles tells you that this type of thing simple doesn't accord with the standards expected from an MP. We should remember that these principles were only introduced under the John Major government due to a succession of scandals, albeit I do think Major himself is was conscience politician and honourable man.

As others have already said, the system is routinely and flagrantly abused, with a great many MP's (almost exclusively Tory by the way) taking income from 'consultancy' roles within the private sector. It's immoral, unethical and lacks accountability.

The only reason why the private sector pay MP's is for commercial gain.
 
I can’t see an issue as everyone knows it happens, its not news.

The fact they can work multiple jobs and profit from their position is immoral and should be stopped, but as they can do so atm and provided they work within the frameworks they have then imo there is no issue.
Just because it's allowed doesn't mean to say it's right. Something can be legal, or within a set of rules, but still be immoral and unethical.

MP's expenses were abused for years before it was exposed by the media and the rules were changed.
 
There is clearly a security issue here. If a small group of journalists can pull off a relatively basic scam and catch senior politicians, what happens if a criminal group or a foreign power carries out something more sophisticated?

Its a bit disappointing when people just shrug their shoulders about things like this. If that was your MP and you'd written to them about a local issue, that would be behind the outside financial interests of your MP.
 
Where do they find the time to represent their constituents? Just look at Johnson for a start.
At £84,000 plus expenses and pension We should be getting a full time MP.
 
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