Cleaning Up Politics
The Sunday Times contained an interesting opinion poll at the weekend - one which suggested there is great public support for toughening up the rules at the Palace of Westminster - where MPs and 'noble' peers go about their work.
Now I think the answers to the questions are quite predictable - because a great many people hold politicians in contempt these days even though not all of them are corrupt and completely useless.
But the problem is that there are far too few, if any, politicians who are selfless - who give the impression that they really do want to clean up the Palace of Westminster - without playing party politics and by tackling the vested interests on their own side.
The point about MPs is that they should not, as a general rule, be able to take up other paid jobs - which mean that they are absent from day jobs on a regular basis or for any significant length of time.
As far as the House of Lords is concerned, the place is a joke and a huge waste of public money - quite why we pay 'noble' peers any money at all is beyond me - because most of them have retired (often early) from already well paid public service jobs which means lots of the buggers enjoy very generous pensions.
So why do they need a tax-free attendance fee of £300 a day - never mind a salary - when all they should really be entitled to is their legitimate expenses for travelling to and staying in London when they are on official business.
Take Jack McConnell, for example, the fomer First Minister of Scotland - now Lord McConnell of course - what in the name of God does he need a daily attendance fee for when he retired early as an MSP on a pension based on his First Minister's salary?
The notion of 'public service' gets bandied around quite freely these days - yet it strikes me that far too many people, often in very privileged positions, still feel a sense of entitlement - that they deserve to be exceptionally well rewarded just for serving the public.
Likewise the man with the 'moral compass' - Gordon Brown - you would have thought that the former Labour leader and Prime Minister would realise how ridiculous he looks - clinging on to his job as a full- time MP when he spends so much time out of the country.
Sunday Times Opinion Poll
Do you support changing rules so that Lords found guilty of offences can be disqualified?
Support - 87%
Oppose - 4%
Don't know - 9%
Would you support a right for constituents to sack their MP between elections if enough people backed such a move?
Support - 77%
Oppose - 9%
Don't know - 14%
Do you support a ban on MPs holding second jobs?
Support - 57%
Oppose - 25%
Don't know - 18%
Do you support introducing a register of all meetings between ministers and lobbyists?
Support - 73%
Oppose - 8%
Don't know - 21%
Do lobbyists have too much influence on politicians?
Too much - 56%
About right - 10%
Not enough - 7%
Don't know - 26%
Should peers receive a salary and be banned from taking outside jobs?
No - 52%
Yes - 30%
Don't know - 18%
