'Selective' Austerity

Whether we like it or not, we are in times of austerity. The first round of cuts hit the Public Sector hard. But in comparison to what is still to come……that was nothing.

 

Which makes the news last week that MPs are to receive a pay rise from £67,060 to £74,000 all the more baffling, infuriating and downright greedy. But it’s not just the salary that they will pick up each year……they also have exceptional pensions (pretty much as good as it gets) linked to how much they earn. The more they earn……the better the pension……the more they cost taxpayers.

 

Whether austerity will work in the long term remains to be seen……but that is the side issue. The real issue is that it is a difficult sell to taxpayers to see Public Sector services cut yet at the same time see those that make those decisions, funded by us to represent us, receive a 10% pay rise.

 

Exactly which other Public Sector employees (1 in 4 people work for the Public Sector in the UK) do you think will receive a 10% pay rise this year?

 

Perhaps my biggest gripe is the total cost of MPs to taxpayers in the first place.

 

In the UK there are 650 MPs for a population of 64 million. This is equates to 98,461 people per MP.

 

In India there are 545 MPs for a population of 1.25 billion. This is equates to 2,300,000 people per MP.

 

Dare I suggest that we have too many MPs for the size of our tiny island? It is austerity after all.

                                

Just a thought Westminster.