http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8588803.stm

Still out of touch.

Many professional positions acquire salaries of far above £65k. I have no issue in increasing MP's salaries but if they do expenses should be removed full stop.

I agree, they should also actually show up to work too

I got annoyed with them demanding we pay for their childcare. We have to pay for child care so we can work, why shouldn't they?

+1
They choose to stand for election they know what the requirements are if they don't like them tough their problem.

When I was a kid my mum said to me that she didn't mind what I did for a job when I grew up as long as I enjoyed it and that I was not to become a politician under any circumstances.

Thats a bit harsh. You mean your mother didnt want you to earn vast amounts of cash, a huge pay off if you lose your job, a tax payers funded gold plated pension, the ability to earn £5K+ a day as a lobbyist, a very friendly expense and allowance system plus a knighthood. Ok you would of been regarded just slightly below a child rapist but think of the plus points!!!

Nah she just didn't want me to become a professional two faced liar.

Bloody hell - £65k isn't enough?!?

Given that the average wage in this country is a third of that, (and round here it's a quarter of that), MPs can kiss my rusty metal a*se!

Build an apartment block in somewhere cheap like Southall and let MPs live there rent-free. Once that's done, scrap the second home expenses system. Cut travel expenses so that MPs only get reimbursed the cost of an off-peak, standard-class train ticket. Oh and the greedy b*stards can pay for their own food and childcare.

And while we're at it, why should GPs, dentists or judges "earn" more than £65k? Especially dentists who have, almost without exception, decided to fleece the entire country.

Judges I have a different opinion on but I'd have to defend dentists just a little. They have to go to University for five years, they do a job which is actually incredibly stressful; first of all pretty much every one of your customers hates you and your job entails causing them pain quite often. Secondly some of the things they do could actually do a lot of harm if they get it wrong, for example if they administer a painkilling injection badly, they could paralyse half your face. Permanently. The burnout rate for dentists, particularly those in the NHS who do the real nasty stuff without getting to do any of the easy cosmetic elective stuff, is horrific.

Basically they do a job which is objectively necessary, very beneficial AND risky but they get pretty much no credit for it at all in social terms. So they might as well at least be well paid.

GPs are a different kettle of fish mind. Some of them pretty much are taking the mickey.

Both of them?

Seriously though, (and I know the Gov't didn't help matters), I would have sympathy if the vast majority of dentists hadn't upped sticks at the first sign of cash.

And perhaps their patients wouldn't hate them quite so much if they hadn't just had to fork out 60GBP for 10 minutes of pain.

There are certain quarters who are suggesting MPs should be paid on the Civil Service pay scales. That would make the job more sensible and link it to the rest of the government of the UK.

Then again, is it fair that councils can employ "chief executives" who get paid six figure salaries? It seems the whole system is topsy-turvy and needs a thorough and radical overhaul.

I won't hold my breath, though.

Yes but senior level mandarins pay is linked to private sector pay already, the same sort that an average director of a public company I think.

As for council chief executives they only get the crazy salaries because they move from one council to another and then the councillor who vet them do not negotiate decent deals. Suffolk council said they wanted a top level chief exec and so asked a head hunter what the rate was and then paid that amount for a top chief exec. It turns out that they are one of the top paying councils yet they are one of the smallest.

MP’s
They need to be paid at a level that attracts “good minds” whilst not putting them up to ridicule from the people who pay their wages ( us ). This rate should not be voted for by MP’s and increases should d be based on national wage increases.
We need to provide London based accommodation for them ( council block of flats ) so they have their home in the constituency they represent, we need to provide basic rate train travel to and from the constituency and London.

Local Council Chief Exec’s
If a council has a turnover of x and y number of employees and they need to recruit and MD of an equivalent size business then they will need to offer that person an equivalent package or they won’t recruit the right person.
If the council don’t do a good job of negotiating a package then that’s not the incoming chief execs fault is it

Dentists, Doctors etc.
They are professional people who negotiate their pay deals either privately or nationally it appears that the negotiations nationally have been very very badly done and the organisations concerned have screwed the government well and truly. ( Good luck to them they had the better negotiators.)

Lawyers Judges, accountants etc.
They are professionals who charge what they can get. You might not like it but tuff you don't have to pay it if you don't want to.

The bottom line is, You would negotiate the best package you can for yourself wouldn’t you ?

For many MP's they get a huge step up in pay to become MP's. Maybe linking it to the minimum wage would be fairer. Don't forget that many MPs also whore themselves out to anyone who is willing to pay. eg the Tory Frontbench, using their influence to get extra income. They are also allowed to keep their previous job.

As for London accommodation a single building would provide no motivation to swindle the tax payer. Though would make it a security problem. The problem with MP's is that they are out of touch with the reality of life for many people. So capping London allowances to the level of housing benefit in the westminster area would make it much better. With any MP living with the M25 ineligible for housing expenses.

As for the others they do negotiate their own pay so fair play to them.

Re. accommodation. A single building full of MPs away from home and Westminster would make the Romans look like rank amateurs - you'd need to put cameras in the halls, bare minimum