Err, no: their poorest constituents don’t pay any tax (net, obviously, as that’s the only sane metric).

And you appear to be overworked and under-qualified, quick to anger and not very stable. There may be a connection between those flaws and your pay, don’t you think? And I am not smug in the slightest, just realistic; and if arrogant means objecting to the confederacy of dunces here, then so be it.

Apart from that though, you’re a thoroughly nice piece of shit

Says the man who resorts to offensive language when his silly immature views come under challenge.

Ordinary people are working all hours. In 24 hour petrol stations, on trawlers, on farms, in power stations, in hospitals, steelworks, semiconductor foundries, factories, and fire stations, to name only a few. By and large, they don’t just do that because they are thick

Blah, blah, blah … and if they are communitng 4 hours a a day and working 12 hour days in a hospital then they are putting their own lives and their patients lives in danger. Actually I challenge you to find any real examples of people who commute 4 hours a day and are doing demanding long-hour jobs in those professions. And if they are, they are a danger to their colleagues as well as themselves.

“Well if ‘ordinary workers’ are prepared to commute from Oxford and do the same kind of irregular hours as an MP then they are pretty thick, aren’t they. As an ordinary worker myself, and one who is paid rather more than an MP, my deal is rather better than that.”

I don’t care what you’re doing, you’re overpaid and underworked. And you’re smug, conceited, and arrogant.

Apart from that though, you’re a thoroughly nice piece of shit.

Ordinary people are working all hours. In 24 hour petrol stations, on trawlers, on farms, in power stations, in hospitals, steelworks, semiconductor foundries, factories, and fire stations, to name only a few. By and large, they don’t just do that because they are thick.

Ian: Yes I do want to put them in barracks. They are constituency MPs who have been cheating their poorest constituents out of their hard-earned money, to subsidise their luxuries. The barrier that insulates them from the common working man isn’t physical or geographic. It is financial. It is having enough money, taxed from the passengers in steerage class, to live rather well in a first class cabin.

And of course they can’t move as they must maintain a dwelling in their constituency. That is why an allowance is reasonable.

Utterly daft. Just because MPs have been taking the piss, doersn’t excuse you from doing the same!

These folk are already getting a very generous salary and pension. Far in excess of what the rest of us have to live on

There won’t be much left from £65K if you have to pay for support staff out of your pocket.

Well if ‘ordinary workers’ are prepared to commute from Oxford and do the same kind of irregular hours as an MP then they are pretty thick, aren’t they. As an ordinary worker myself, and one who is paid rather more than an MP, my deal is rather better than that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8Nf1MK7lts

To replace their travel expenses, I might issue them with a standard fare season ticket to cover their journeys to and from their constituency, but not to cover any journeys within the greater London area.

And no payments for secretarial staff/ interns either.

These folk are already getting a very generous salary and pension. Far in excess of what the rest of us have to live on.

Everyone I know in the private sector who’s been obliged to work across multiple sites as part of their job description has received allowances for travel to, and accommodation at, the other site.

Ordinary workers aren’t granted allowances – they work late and commute, or move.

BUT – while I accept that MPs do need to have a presence in two locations (Westminster and their own Constituency) I think there is a solution.

Barracks.

D

While I’m not advocating any specific solution, the problem has never been the cost to the tax-payer. If the cost to the tax-payer is the only issue, why should we care about them taking tens of thousands of unnecessary expenses, it means nothing per head of population.

The problem is that I don’t want to be ruled by people who steal my money and when caught, complain about the harsh conditions they have to work under.

Which is about the rent for my large-ish 2-bed flat in Zone 2, and is much higher than the mortgage on such a flat, so I’m not sure this’d be a net benefit to the taxpayer.

why not have a low reasonable reimbursable per diem (with receipts) for MPs to cover travel, lodging and food when they are working in london?

this amount would be known in advance and MPs could then *choose* whether they wanted to seek election in the first place.

Those who rail against the crapness of most legislation coming out of the house might want to think about what it is we want MPs to actually do–3 hours on a coah each day isn’t going to help the scrutiny process much, especially given the irregular hours most MPs work.

I reckon Evan and others should put their London homes into trust funds and rent them from them.