Westminster Politics
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I still think that arguably the biggest problem with Westminster politics is the FPTP voting system. I just don't think the system is fit for the 21st century and it has far too many deficiencies; forcing both the Tories and Labour to operate as wide coalitions within themselves due to fear of electoral suicide if they split (Labour are probably 3 parties under one umbrella and the Tories at least 2), making politics far more adversarial and tribal with its' 'winner takes all' set-up and making parties far less willing to work constructively with each other, reducing the choice of parties for voters at the ballot box, protecting the 2 largest parties and forcing many of us to continually vote for the 'least worst option', safe seats, wasted votes etc.
A form or PR is sorely needed, but probably the only prospect of a change there is if Labour can win a general election as the largest party in a coalition and need to be propped up by smaller parties.
It always annoys me when people, including some sitting MPs, claim that PR was rejected in the 2011 referendum, when of course that was on AV which is non-proportional, so a form of PR wasn't even on the ballot paper.
I'm a Labour voter, and I always get accused of wanting to change the system purely because they keep losing elections, but I also thought that FPTP was a garbage system when Labour benefitted big time from it in 2005.
A form or PR is sorely needed, but probably the only prospect of a change there is if Labour can win a general election as the largest party in a coalition and need to be propped up by smaller parties.
It always annoys me when people, including some sitting MPs, claim that PR was rejected in the 2011 referendum, when of course that was on AV which is non-proportional, so a form of PR wasn't even on the ballot paper.
I'm a Labour voter, and I always get accused of wanting to change the system purely because they keep losing elections, but I also thought that FPTP was a garbage system when Labour benefitted big time from it in 2005.
Why RT someone that you don’t know when you’re a politician. She’s asking for trouble. These people are stupid
Hope this lying bastard goes down, but he won't.
Tory peer Lord Bethell changes his story AGAIN over £90m Covid contracts as he admits deleting phone messages because he wrongly believed they were backed up
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ethell-changes-story-90m-Covid-contracts.html
Tory peer Lord Bethell changes his story AGAIN over £90m Covid contracts as he admits deleting phone messages because he wrongly believed they were backed up
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ethell-changes-story-90m-Covid-contracts.html
Crooked man in walking crooked mile shocker.
A large part of the Conservative vote going to the greens? Interesting...
Which will last for as long as that climate change conference is in the news, then nobody will give a feck anymore and it'll be CON +5.
not necessarily - the conservative vote could be going lib dem for example then some of that existing lib dem vote going to labour and some to green with some existing labour also going green
Hard to tell from the raw headline figures - with COP 26 though green issues have a lot of focus right now - the telling thing will be if some of thise votes drift back to labour for example when Cop 26 has less focus?
Not surprised he's avoiding it... slightly surprised he's not sending gove in to bat... few people are comfortable and competent as him at using lelectove truths to bluff their way through a few hours in the commons and turning it all into party political soundbites
Why would he, there's always a handy fridge that needs investigating
I've said for years just pay mps a wage that is commensurate with the role and responsibilities and ban any other paid work...
Wage needs to be a lot higher though is your going to attract the best quality people
Surely representing anything against the state when an mp is treason?
I think a better first step would be breaking the oxbridge stranglehold and old boys club behaviour.
I mean I am not sure about the oxbridge thing... the top students tend to go to top universities therefore if we have among the best and brightest as representatives I would expect a disproportionate of people from there .... ultimatley though I would hope that we would see more people from courses such as science, engineering etc who have gone into work before later going into politics rather than the typical PPE then intern then work for the party / then spad / then stnd for election .... hopefully that transition would see some of the "old boys club" mentality disappear?
To be honest, you could say that about many jobs. The basic wage for an MP is over £81k. And of course there are a significant amount of expenses.
That is over 2.5 times the average wage. Just giving them an unjustified wage increase is not going to give you a better MP and nothing is likely to stop greed. It is endemic in society.
We don't have the 'best and brightest' for representatives now even when the vast majority are Oxbridge and they can game the system and work second jobs.
We don't.
The problem is that bullingdon mentality, the utter sense of entitlement, the absolute refusal to acknowledge they don't know best and in a large majority of cases MPs with 0 experience of how the vast majority of people in the country live.
Where exactly do you stop with the wage increase though?
They have more than enough to live comfortably, anything more is greed. If you increased it from 80k to 300k you would still have people being greedy and having their heads turned by another 100k on the side.
Right idea, but there are two sorts of people at Oxbridge, those that were genuinely top students from all sorts of schools all over the country, and those that went to the likes of Eton and had tens of thousands spent on them, and more, and were groomed to it from birth. The likes of Eton should be the target, not Oxbridge.
And I'm well aware that it's massively harder for a very clever kid to get into Oxbridge if they're from a not very good state school, which is why I wouldn't discriminate against them further. Eton though, I'd just ban the feckers.
Thats spot on actually, fair point.
Do we think this might be what eventually sinks this disgrace of a Government?
The recent polls from Britain Elects (Lab 36, Con 35) and YouGov (Con 36, Lab 35) show that this has dented the faith in them by the working class Tory voters (I assume). Do we think this might see persistent change in opinions, or will it all revert back to type next week?
The recent polls from Britain Elects (Lab 36, Con 35) and YouGov (Con 36, Lab 35) show that this has dented the faith in them by the working class Tory voters (I assume). Do we think this might see persistent change in opinions, or will it all revert back to type next week?
The problem is though that concentrating that much of the political class into just 2 higher education establishments means they tend to gravitate towards a common way of thinking (and a shared network) anyway, even if they do come from a poorer background. It just results in 'representatives' who have far more in common with each other regardless of party than they do with the people they supposedly represent.
It'd be easy to be cynical and say it'll revert next week, but historically persistent sleaze stories do consistently topple governments. It'll happen at some point, regardless of whether its right now. It might not be the end for them, but it feels like at least the beginning of the end.
Some truth in that, but for me it's a case of working out how best to target those that only get there because of family, got to start somewhere!
A Headteacher can earn more than an MP.... and I don't think head teachers should be paid less so pay MP's more
yes hence pay them more and pan second jobs
agreed - so pay better (and ban second jobs)
probably bring in a company like kornferry to benchmark a job with similar responsibilities and requirements
we bring in kornferry in our business to benchmark pay for example at senior levels where exact comparables are hard to find
as for the extra money - simply ban any other paid work - automatic they are stood down as an mp ... but make the pay enough so people dont need to do that
Has Starmer's strategy of not challenging the government on any issues worked? Have they overreached because of lack of opposition? Or is Starmer useless and the luckiest opposition leader ever.
I don't think that guarantees better people. Public service is never going to attract the best people for purely financial reasons. To be a good MP you have to actually care about public service, and that just means ensuring the wage is a decent one that people can live comfortably on. If you're asking the question of whether you could just get paid better going private sector, then you don't belong as an MP in the first place because it means you're money driven not public service drive. £80k is not a small wage that anyone should struggle to live on. If after being an MP for however many years people decide they want to build their fortune further, then they should absolutely leave public service and work wherever they please.
I thought for a long time that Starmer's strategy was simply to keep Labour out of the media and give the Tories enough rope to eventually hang themselves. It's not the worst plan really, given that the next election isn't particularly close and the Tory leaning media love nothing better than to misrepresent/lie about Labour any chance they get. Especially considering that 'opposition' in any practical sense isn't really possible when the government have a majority that big and the press in their pockets.
I'd started to doubt recently and worry that maybe he really is just a shite opposition leader, but maybe its finally paying off. Maybe.
More likely bring in a freshly created company, owned by a tory party donor/family member/old school friend/Lover, pay them 100% more than the going rate for a service, and then whats provided isnt fit for purpose.
There is over 100 head teachers earning double what an MP earns - and given that MPs are voting on complex legislation that impacts all of us I personally dont think its unrealistic that they are paid more than top head teachers - and I have no issue with a top head teacher earning 150K+
I am wondering whether this represents a turning point. Starmer has gone after the government quite vocally on this issue and the polls are moving in a negative manner for the Tories (not necessarily in Labour's favour yet). I hope he tries a bit more attacking/opposition on the back of this.
Ok. You certainly seem to have a very fixed view on this. And I respect that.
But just one little point.
The government has decided that it cannot afford to maintain the state pension triple lock. And has instead dropped the average earnings increase element, so say for the next year only.
As a result, the weekly state pension will be £141 for the second class people who got their pension before 2016. Or a little over £7500 per year.
So please excuse me for not being sympathetic to MPs who only get £81,000 per year.
More than happy for you to fund the necessary tax increase.
Its not even that. It’s simply a case of setting fire To the notion that is ‘Good Education = Intelligent = Able to do ANY job”
Some of the smartest people I know were school leavers. Some of the most well educated I know I wouldn’t trust with a pair of scissors.
Firstly, if every child got an Eton and Oxbridge educational journey, we’d be awash with bright kids, supported 24/7 and graded up at every turn. A nation of Degrees and PHD’s.
Secondly, even in that dream scenario, ‘Well educated’ Chemists, Physicists or Classics Majors should not be able to go anywhere near the Foreign Office, or Department for health. The most intelligent Chemist in the world simply isn’t qualified to head up the Department of Housing.
The routes of entry don’t need 2-decade long career paths into them. But a baseline of effort and understanding should be the start line.
The Minister of Education should be a true rock star of government that’s overseen multiple County-Wide improvements of schooling systems that’s experienced in a Northern and Southern setting, with one of those two having a large rural element.
These people are parachuted into roles they don’t understand, inherited off ‘peers’ that barely got their feet under the table, in a big merry go round of inadequacy.
Why luckiest ever?
In the sense that if it hasn't been his strategy all along and he's just been lucky that the public have done his work for him.