I was a Member
of the European Parliament for two and a half years during which time I worked
on average 6 days a week, including some rather unsocial hours. Sunday was
usually my only proper day off and I often did some catching up on emails that
day.
The job of
course also involved a great deal of travel, mainly between Leeds and Brussels,
but also across the Yorkshire and Humber region and to Strasbourg once a month.
I didn’t have much time for family and friends and many complained to me about
this.
The life of
an MP is similar (although possibly with less travel). I know MPs who work 80
hours a week pretty much on a permanent basis. I therefore struggle to
comprehend how an MP has the time for a second job.
If they have
time for another job, what are they not doing as an MP as a consequence? Perhaps
they only show up to very few parliamentary debates, hold few or no constituency
surgeries, don’t visit local businesses, schools and colleges and rarely
venture out to meet their constituents? And if they’re not working full-time as
an MP, why are they receiving a full-time salary?
Any MP
foolish enough to claim they need to earn extra money because £67k isn’t enough
to live on (yes Malcolm Rifkind I’m talking to you!), is so out of touch with
ordinary life they deserve all the criticism they get. I managed to live in
London, the most expensive city in the UK, on a bit more than a third of an MP’s
salary. Doing so did require careful budgeting (my top tips: walk or cycle to
work, take a packed lunch every day and never buy take away coffee), but it is
possible and many people do it. In fact, many people manage on less.
I understand
that some MPs earned considerably more before they entered politics and if that
is the case, then good for them for making a choice to earn less in order to
take up public office. That is not however, a justification for a 2nd
job/outside consultancy work.
I do however
understand that for MPs in certain professions, e.g. the medical profession,
there may be a need to undertake training/education or even some professional
practice in order to remain qualified and able to practice. I think it’s fair
enough to allow an MP time for such activities, but I strongly suspect they don’t
come to anything like the time commitment of a 2nd job.
I am uncomfortable
about an MP being paid for advice on matters that relate to parliamentary
business. As an MEP, when I met with representatives of businesses, charities,
NGOs, industry associations, public sector bodies etc, they often asked whether
their organisation’s aims in their campaign/concerning a piece of legislation
et were realistic and achievable, and if certain of my colleagues were worth
approaching. I was happy in such situations to give my opinion (and it was only
my opinion). The idea of being paid to do that while holding elected public office not only seems wrong, but seems
possibly undemocratic, as I’m sure only a minority of organisations have the
money to do that.
And finally,
the thing that annoys me the most about the second job debate is that it paints
a picture of MPs that is wholly unfair to all those who dedicate long hours
serving their constituents sometimes at great personal cost.
