I am concerned.

Scrub that.  I am very concerned that we are on the road to a House of Millionaires and Mediocrity!  A House that does not attract the best in society.  A House that the Civil Service will effectively control decision making and stamp all over inexperienced MP’s

MP’s are caught between a rock and a hard place.

Thus far, measures being proposed to ‘keep MP’s in order’ will have damaging effects for the future of our democracy.  As MP’s face the heat of the public spotlight on expenses, the way MP’s are selected and remunerated are also under the scrutiny of the media and electorate.  The thorny issue of MP’s outside interests and second jobs is a subject of fierce debate.

Personally, I am in favour of MP’s having outside interests.  Being on The Board of a Company or a Consultant keeps MP’s in touch with real world issues and concerns…but the issue time and again returns back to salary.

MP’s salaries are currently £64,766.  That is LOW…POOR…DERISORY…if we want to be able to attract the best from society then MP’s need to re-adjust their salary to £90-95k.  It’s no wonder MP’s seek to supplement their salary by outside interests and maximising what they could on expenses claims.

I expect that to some this statement will seem sacrilege.  ‘What, £65k is too low’, ‘we have to manage on half that!’

But let’s consider that if current proposals take hold we will have a split House.  Part will be a House of Millionaires.  Millionaires because they don’t care about the money…they don’t need it…they are in it for the power…or to do good.  But questionably is you want to help society and you are a millionaire you would look to support or set up a strong charitable activity….so power would be a key driver amongst the rich in society.

Then we come to a House of Mediocrity.  That may seem an insulting turn of phrase.  What do I mean?  Those people who are earning £15k – £50k, who would see £65k as an attractive salary. Most people in this bracket include the young, graduates, those in junior roles and junior management—to low mid management.  Listening to some of the current young candidates aspiring to be an MP is disconcerting.  Life experience is lost to ambition.  Gravitas and authority grows from experience.  This is not an elitist argument but one that is common sense.   Yes, being an MP is not about money and filling your boots.  It is about helping people and improving society.  But this also requires attracting the finest minds into the house. 

Quality is the key driver.  We are talking of people becoming legislators.  People who can understand complex issues and chart the best way forward for our Country.  MP’s deal with complex issues be it economic, be it on the health service, law and order…and of course defence and foreign affairs.  If we are committing troops to battle, our MP’s must understand the history of the region we are at war with, what troop objectives are, what equipment they need.  All these decisions require people with integrity, intelligence and understanding. 

People with experience and could be arguably best placed to take these decisions will be earning a parity or more than MP’s basic salaries.

If the argument is that quality is not a factor because they will be helped by the Civil Service, then we are prioritising and passing decision making to unelected bureaucrats, who will steer MP’s.  Therefore, limiting MP’s pay will erode democracy, not help improve it…as it will be the Civil Servants taking decisions not our elected representatives.

Now consider if you were a middle ranking manager in the private sector or public sector.  You would be earning circa £60-80k.  Where is your financial incentive to stand for Parliament?  You will have a mortgage, most likely a family to support, University education to pay…..you would be mad to give up your family’s financial security by ‘doing what is right’ by standing for the House, however well intentioned your motives are.  Family comes first.

To see how far MP’s salaries are out of kilter take a look at the Times Online Appointments Section today.  The following jobs could turn your eye….now the people applying for these jobs could make great MP’s….but why would they apply for a massive salary drop?   

The bureaucrats earn more than the decision makers! 

—–Selection of Roles Times Online Appointments—–

Service Director Learning/Vulnerable Children, KCC, £104,000

Project Director for Schools Capital Programme, Isle of Wight Council, up to £100k

Executive Director, Skills for Health, £80k

Head of MIAP Service, Learning & Skills Council, £85k

Chief Executive,  Asso Police Authorities, £100k

Chief Executive, Scottish Enterprise, £100k

Director General Communications, Dept Work & Pensions, c£140k

Finance Director, Whizz-Kidz, £75,000

Head of Research, Home Office, c£85k

Treasurer, Met Police Authority, c £120k

Head, National Safeguarding Delivery Unit, Dept Education, Schools, c £100,000

Deputy Director Leaning Effectiveness, Hillingdon, £92,000 – £125,000

Deputy Director: Children & Family Services, Hillingdon, £92,000 – £125,000

President of Employment Tribunerals, Scotland, £138,548

Director of Property, KCC, £90k

Let’s hope that the summer recess allows some clear thinking time as the last thing this great nation deserves is a Parliament of Millionaires & Mediocrity!

James Purnell is one of the most gifted politicians in this current Parliament.  Yes, I spend most of my time on this blog attacking Labour and its policies but I have a respect for Purnell.  He is an intelligent guy, with a vision and principles.  He will debate on issues and is rarely drawn into the slogan politics that Brown is so fond of.  Purnell’s resignation, after polls closed after the Local & European elections, was done with honesty and yet dignity.  Not a career politician and certainly not bearing the naked ambition of a Caroline Flint that saw her bend beliefs to put career greed ahead of conviction & principles.

Purnell, has kept his counsel, until now, with an interesting interview in Sunday’s Guardian.  Purnell tells the Guardian that: “Over the last six months I had been thinking, ‘has the elastic stretched beyond the point where I feel I am being true to myself?’”    http://tiny.cc/wGhbE  This is a great indication that Purnell was not at ease with the direction of Labour’s strategy and the way policies were being presented/communicated to the electorate.  Certainly Purnell found the ‘10% Tory cuts’ messaging was ‘crude’.

The Guardian interview highlights several interesting insights.  Purnell feels that the government has failed to properly make the positive case for immigration.  This is a growing issue amongst the electorate that the BNP and also UKIP will seek to play on in the next election.  As discussed on this blog, immigration is an issue that as Purnell notes, Labour is not addressing and on the Conservative side, arguably, not being played as a strength.  “The answer is to not end up looking tongue-tied doing some things you don’t actually believe, but working out what the argument is which might be able to win people round to your point of view which is, ‘will we be a more successful country if we open up in terms of free trade, in terms of Labour markets. We’re going to be a more interesting country’.” Purnell also feels that the Labour Government is “allergic” to a debate on the wisdom of faith schools. 

Following the furore of MP’s expenses and the perception of current Politics plunging in the eyes of the electorate, Purnell suggests that Labour should hold a referendum on electoral reform at the next election.  This is an interesting proposition and will be fascinating to see if Cameron picks up this mantle.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Purnell dictates that he did not expect fellow cabinet members to follow his lead and resign.  Purnell always asserted he was not part of a coup attempt….and would certainly not admit that to us now post event.  We know that David Miliband certainly thought about resigning but bottled it.  Purnell and Milliband are great mates.  He calls Miliband “one of the most serious politicians of his generation”.  He has obviously seen something that has passed the rest of us by. 

Purnell is known by many as a staunch Blairite….which was a thorn that Brown hated in his Cabinet.  Fascinatingly, he thinks times have changed and now is not the time for nostalgia back to the Blair days.  He said: “All those Blairite, New Labour labels … for me, it’s a bit like Britpop – I feel nostalgic for it, it was absolutely right for its time but that time was 1994. It’s a very different feeling being 12 years into government from the idealism of the start, but we need to recapture that idealism, not by living in the past or by aping New Labour or just sticking to the old tunes. We need to open up New Labour, reinvent it and then eventually move beyond it.”  Sounds like Purnell will be doing all he can to help this policy debate…certainly not something that Brown will applaud. 

In the meantime Purnell is assuming a role at the thinktank Demos in September.  At Demos Purnell joins figures critical of the prime minister’s style and agenda. Blair’s former speech writer Phil Collins is a Demos trustee. Alan Milburn, the former health secretary and critic, is also a board member.  The thinktank was formed in the mid-90s by former Blair adviser Geoff Mulgan and though it has frequently published pamphlets by non-Labour figures, government sources were taken bu surprise when Demos appointed to its board, on it’s 16th birthday anniversary, politicians from the Conservative and Lib Dem parties including the shadow chancellor, George Osborne, and Treasury spokesman for the Lib Dems, Vince Cable.

Purnell does not see a return to front line politics.  He is revelling being away from those red boxes….as is Jacqui Smith.  Purnell is bound to say that as Brown is hardly likely to offer him a new role pre the election….after that election Brown will be deposed and the influence of Purnell will again rise.  Maybe right to the top as he wont be tainted by the Cabinet Collective Policies that Miliband and Johnson will be tainted with.   Maybe the Leadership Campaign is over before it even starts…if ‘Teflon’ Purnell continues as he is now.

We have not heard the last of this man….expect great things from this thinking politician…he may have turned his back on Brown but not on politics!