The pipers of parliament

The proposal to pay members of parliament £10,000 additional salary (taking the annual wage to around £75,000) may go against the spirit of ‘we’re all in this together’ (which was never true) and the wishes of the prime minister.  But it is long overdue.  Just as the Labour government failed the country in putting off all difficult decisions that weren’t backed by the USA or right-wing newspapers (energy production, transport, climate change measures that were more than pinprick), salaries for MPs were held down as it would be politically unpopular to raise them, leading to abuse of the expenses system as a form of remuneration.  As a result of that scandal, the austerity programme and to some extent just the very being of a Coalition, it is even more unpopular.  This does not make it the wages of sin, however.

I agree that the number of MPs should be reduced (in a comprehensive overhaul of electoral rules, rather than ones that just benefit the Conservatives), but even this doesn’t occur, this pecuniary increase needs to happen.  Social progressives introduced it a century ago, so people could serve in parliament without needing to live off their own means.  The situation is no different today, otherwise parliament will become even more elitist than it is currently.  Admittedly, it is three times the national average wage (and if you remove the top 1% of the population, it is even more pronounced), but he who pays the piper calls the tune and this is a fillip to accountability.