Sat
Jun
27
MPs squirm as the spotlight turns on second jobs
A new Commons register of outside earnings is causing mayhem. While Tories are sacrificing huge salaries, Labour MPs want one last pay day.
The Prime Minister’s plan to embarrass the Shadow Cabinet by forcing MPs to publish details of their second jobs looks set to backfire after it emerged that senior Labour MPs and former ministers are more reluctant to part with their outside earnings.
Someone once said something like “anyone who want’s to be an MP is by definition therefore not suitable for the job” so here’s a radical idea. As in the case of Jury duty, perhaps the UK can adopt ‘MP duty’. Names of taxpayers are drawn randomly and they have to serve as a local MP for say a year. Employers have to give them the time off and they can claim basic expenses but no huge salary.
It works for Jury duty so why not?
