One of the main reasons for supporting independence is the lack of any prospect of meaningful reform within the UK. Regardless of which side gets in, there are certain aspects of Westminster governance that simply will not change. As this blog could conceivably become the longest on this site we’re going to split it into three bite sized parts: donations, outside interests and honours.
Outside Interests
Politicians at Westminster have a tremendous amount of
power, from the ability to create and influence our laws and gear them to favour certain practices and individuals, to ordering our troops to go to war
regardless of public opinion. It is
important that their focus is to act in the interests of their constituents,
and the best way to do that is to remove any potentially corrupting outside
influences.
"Why change? We've got the best democracy money can buy!" Westminster MPs
Unfortunately we don’t get this protection. Private interests are rife with 295 MPs receiving some form of income from outside work, totalling a staggering £7 million. To many this will seem unbelievable but to the British ruling classes this is business as usual.
So why do they do it?
For some it is greed. MPs at
Westminster receive a basic salary of £65,738 per annum. This compares to £27,000 for registered nurses in Scotland,
between £21,428 and £34,200 for secondary school teachers
and £31,032 for a police constable. Compared to most public servants, they do
pretty well. Arguments that they will fall into poverty if they don't receive more are embarrassing and wrong. If they can’t cope with £65,738, a fantastic
pension and numerous other perks
then should they be in charge of Scotland’s finances?
But immediate financial gain isn’t the only example of
greed. Social Investigations, a group
which looks into political connections to healthcare companies, revealed that
many of our MPs stand to make a big profit if the NHS continues
to privatise. The numbers are even starker
for House of Lords members (http://socialinvestigations.blogspot.co.uk/p/key-facts-of-lords-and-mps-connections.html).
"Don't be so selfish, think about me!" anonymous Westminster MP (whilst claiming for expenses)
To see why this issue is so important, let’s look at one very famous example: Former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Being Prime Minister meant that he commanded a very generous
salary however it was nowhere near enough to match the lifestyle he enjoyed whilst in office. Don’t worry too much about the precarious nature of Mr
Blair’s finances, after leaving office he found numerous sources of income and a
string of companies who for some reason wanted to pay him:
£5m as an advance for writing memoirs.
£2m a year for part-time advice to JP Morgan bank.
£1.2m a year in estimated (minimum) earnings from the global
lecture circuit.
£117,500 a year from Combined Prime Ministerial and MP's
pension.
£90,000 a year in Public Service Allowance for the costs a
former Prime Minister incurs from running an office.
£2m in expected (minimum) income from other private advisory
roles.
Total £10.4m
The simple conclusion is this – politicians shouldn’t have any
other jobs whilst being an MP, and should have a long gardening leave
afterwards to prevent corruption. It
seems simple to us and we have a chance of making this policy with independence
but the culture at Westminster means that change won’t come from there.
Ed Miliband, the leader of the Labour Party who, according to opinion polls,
is unlikely to ever have the opportunity to enact any of his policies, is only
proposing a cap on payments from outside interests, not a ban (http://metro.co.uk/2013/07/09/ed-miliband-vows-to-cap-mps-earnings-from-jobs-outside-parliament-3876071/). Ironically one of the MPs who would lose out
under this set up is former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose £1.37 million pound earnings for tax year 2012/13 would have to reduce.
The alternative for Mr Brown would be to resign as an MP,
but then the people of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath would need to find someone to
take part in 1 debate, ask 8 questions and vote 14% of the time for a mere £65,738. Is there anyone willing to match this commitment?
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