Sir Nicholas - First Class ***

[HR17]

Did anyone else hear this on Radio 5 today. I thought my blood would boil. I had the urge to drive to his constituency and inflict something horrible upon him and demonstrate what 'different' people are capable of.

BBC News - MP's anger at expenses 'ban' on first-class travel

 

[Gridlock]

He is kind of right.... The clue is the fact that his party roundly condemned him.

Some trains have silent coaches, which is all well and good, but if you asked me to work in London half the time, Yorkshire half the time and to also correspond with my constituents, read bills that, y'know, become law, I'd be asking for a first class seat too.

You made me defend a politician, a tory one at that

 

[bpsorrel]

I agree Gridlock. The fact is it's often virtually impossible to concentrate on work in a "standard" class train (or plane!) because of the noise and crowds. But, then again, I'm not spending tax payer's money on the rare occasions I travel first class...

 

[Gridlock]

My brother works on the railways (like most of my ancestors) so if I ask nicely (and infrequently) I get 75% off tickets. Trust me, half the people in first class will be in the same situation

 

[st4]

You made me defend a politician, a tory one at that

Wonders never cease

 

[neilrr]

In the grand scheme of things I don't think MP's expenses is nearly as important as sections of the media have blown it up to be. TBH I don't really care.

Anyone who thinks it's a cushy job has the option to run for any seat they like!

If the leader of my local council is getting paid 3 TIMES what a backbench MP gets then something is wrong.

I'm tired of seeing weak kneed politicians quivering at the mention of pay & expenses. I'd prefer to see a politician with a set of balls on him come out & say they are underpaid & if you pay peanuts you'll attract monkeys. Trebling or quadrupling their pay in an attempt to draw in the brightest & the best into running the country strikes me as a very good idea which would cost a drop in the bucket of the nation's books.

 

[Gridlock]

I'd prefer to see a politician with a set of balls on him come out & say they are underpaid & if you pay peanuts you'll attract monkeys. Trebling or quadrupling their pay in an attempt to draw in the brightest & the best into running the country strikes me as a very good idea which would cost a drop in the bucket of the nation's books.

Unfortunately,

1) The media decides what is SHOCKING and what is REFRESHING/HONEST/NON-PC. Largely the public follows their lead.

2) Pay what you want, fact is this would change nothing and still give us the collection of chinless old money and politicking union officials we have now. The system sustains itself and new ways or radical change cannot be delivered without revolution.

 

[bpsorrel]

...radical change cannot be delivered without revolution.

I'm up for that!!

 

[Gridlock]

We all should be, we've been conned into believing that the system is always right and must not be questioned - I think the absolute best quote to sum up where we are is "there's nothing as scared as a million dollars".

 

[peterg1965]

The principle of MPs having First Class travel, along with many senior/mid ranking civil servants (and probably lots of equivalents in the private sector) is not really important. It is the fact that this arrogant Tory Grandee seems to believe it is his god given right, and to mouth off about it shows an enormous lack of judgement.

 

[Gridlock]

Dave from PR was not impressed, obviously.

I must have a think and see what I can do to help them highlight their moneyed roots... Seems to be a bit of a sore point. Maybe they're scared the 3m Sun readers Rupert delivered are a bit jumpy when it comes to the OBN, for some reason..

 

[abecketts]

engage brain before operating mouth me thinks Sir Nick, enjoy your retirement.

 

[timskemp]

Travelling in cattle class sucks. Imagine commuting 3 hrs a day each way in a Fiat Cinquecento with 4 other persons. At peak times, and especially if working, the extra money for first is worth it.

I've been stuck before now after a long day in a carriage full of drunk football fans. First tends not to suffer that.

 

[Gridlock]

To be fair, if they are forced to travel standard class we can all look forward to massive railway investment very shortly

Edit: Duh, I mean "massive security crackdowns on public transport and the stigmatisation of those who use it". Forgot where we were then for a second..

 

[Gridlock]

enjoy your retirement.

Enjoy it? He'll be 15 times as wealthy within 2 years - the reward for a life of service

 

[davidjpowell]

I heard a bit of the interview on Radio 4 - he did sound rather baited.

Still he should have thought about what he was saying. I don't see a problem with the principle - but perhaps he did not get what he was saying over in the best way possible.

 

[Stratman]

Strange. When the rest of us have to travel to do our jobs we are only allowed to claim for cattle class. Anything more is taxed. What makes MPs uniquely different?

On a wider theme, I have yet to hear a convincing argument as to why the expenses rules Parliament imposes on the rest of us aren't good enough for MPs.

For their accomodation allowance what's wrong with an amount equivalent to Housing Benefit? If they expect their constituents to live on it............


Most of them are only part time MPs anyway. Look at the register of members' interests and count the extra jobs they have. Pay them proportionately, so if they have three other jobs then they get one quarter of their MP's pay and pension.

 

[davidjpowell]

But I don't think you are taxed if you travel first class for business, although some firms may not allow it. I've tried to work on the train, but can't do it in cattle class. Ultimately though it's too expensive anyway so I drive.

I don't understand why they are paid an accommodation allowance. Why did they not use the state of the economy to buy a block of flats or Hotel. Give room/apartment with job. easy. OK Daily Mail would whinge anytime that they needed to buy loo roll / tv's or anything else which collectively would be a big number.

 

[HR17]

This guy, and many other MPs, seem to consider their expenses as part of their reward for serving us. They don't realise that these are meant to be out of pocket expenses incurred in the line of duty.
Like many others on here, my expenses are purely reimbursement for my money already spent as I carry out my job. Any false or exaggerated claims are gross misconduct and fraud(ie. criminal). If this guy thinks he should have preferential treatment to the 'different class' of people, who elected him to represent them and pay his wages , then he really must get a reality check. I think that if his £64k salary is insufficient, regardless of his opinion that he 'works hard for the public', then he should have resigned long ago and got a proper job in the private sector. Apparently the average wage in the UK is around £22-24k, and we assume that most people work just as hard to keep roofs over their heads and don't get expenses and privileges like MPs.

I find the whole attitude of these guys sickening, and the sooner we get rid of them the better. I think I'd be happier knowing that parliament spent more monitoring expenses than were saved, just for the satisfaction of knowing that my MP didn't have his fingers in the till.

 

[Stratman]

.............. I think that if his £64k salary is insufficient...................

Interesting. I can give a useful comparison with the basic pay of an MP.

I have had the same job for thirty four years (BBC engineer, so sort of public sector when it suited those in power). Twenty years ago my basic pay was just about the same as an MP's basic pay. Now my basic pay is less than half that of an MP. Despite all their bleating they haven't done too badly.