tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post9176496454918937692..comments2024-03-04T17:54:32.559+00:00Comments on Iain Dale's Diary: Paul Goodman: Why I'm Quitting the CommonsIain Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03270146219458384372noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-74014593752187510832009-08-06T07:12:02.296+01:002009-08-06T07:12:02.296+01:00I was a HoC and HoL researcher in the late 80'...I was a HoC and HoL researcher in the late 80's and early 90's. A number of the MP'when I was first there had done things like fight wars and there was a definite feel of bristling experience informing debate and decision. I guess what strikes me when I go back in is the sheer sameness of so many of the MP's. <br /><br />Maybe I am just older but some of the guys I was a reasearcher with are now MP's and, one or two, Ministers. In my now outside (Parliament and country) job, I can't help but reflect that I would not give any of them a job. All they can do is politics- small minded, internal, small world, small ambition politics.<br /><br />These are not bad people, they are just very limited people with no real experience and no way of getting it. To see some of my ex colleagues go from researcher, to SPAD to MP to Minister to Cabinet Minster without touching the sides of the real world and with no real talent except small minded pole climbing makes you fear.<br /><br />In many ways, I think the vitriol on the web about the political classes is a reaction. If real people are excluded by narrow elites, they don't just give up. They get angry.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-54866531208232174192009-08-05T20:26:39.520+01:002009-08-05T20:26:39.520+01:00I am 100% with Paul Goodman. He obviously doesn&#...I am 100% with Paul Goodman. He obviously doesn't think Dave will change anything significantly. Is this perhaps because Dave is already restricting the outside interests of his senior colleagues?Old Codgernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-17149807970827067252009-08-05T16:42:54.271+01:002009-08-05T16:42:54.271+01:00Duncan, having an elected representative with real...Duncan, having an elected representative with real world experience is better than not but if they become full time and wholly change their income source, they'll soon change sides. Recalls would help but wouldn't change their fundamental motivation.<br /><br />My solution would not be to ban second jobs or private income but to insist on them. Then we could pay a part-time salary for a part-time job and everybody would be happy. To qualify as an MP, a candidate would have to demonstrate independent means of at least £30k a year; this could come from, say, from part time legal work, directorships, or sponsorship from unions. This way we would ensure representatives kept their feet on the ground and, by setting the minimum private income relatively high, filter out a lot of the dross.Scary Biscuitshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03039289019338752778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-53478186062860109792009-08-05T15:52:02.669+01:002009-08-05T15:52:02.669+01:00If only Brecow would quit.
He's decided to sp...If only Brecow would quit.<br /><br />He's decided to spend some more Taxpayers' money on getting his Grace-and-Favour palace to his liking.<br /><br />Not content with inheriting the £3/4 million redecoration from his troughing predecessor, Bercow now expects us to pay for, amongst other things, a TV, a garden trellis and a kitchen clock. <br /><br />Why?<br /><br />Normal Taxpayers have to fund these items themselves.Joe Publicnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-61541874517150243752009-08-05T14:51:42.246+01:002009-08-05T14:51:42.246+01:00Duncan Cookson
the trouble is; just how many empl...Duncan Cookson<br /><br />the trouble is; just how many employers will give you 5 years leave of absence ?<br /><br />If I stand for public office; and am prevented from following my profession I become out of date; out of touch and un-employable at the rate I currently earn. (Same problem we have with maternity leave).<br /><br />And another 5 years if you get re-elected (admittedly if you can get the third term; your profession becomes irrelevant).<br /><br />So if I should decide to serve the public by standing for election; why would I bother if that trashes my future ?<br /><br />Perhaps the answer is; is to make employers hold candidates jobs open - but the cost of doing that would be enormous. About the only sector that can afford that sort of overhead is the public sector - one of the very groups we <b>don't</b> need in elected post (lack real world experience)<br /><br />So if we are to avoid the ultimate parasites on society (professional politicians) we need a method to allow people to be able to stand for elected office - and encouraging them to retain a foot in the employed worker camp is one way to do it.<br /><br />I want my MP/Councillor to have real world experience.peter_dtmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13460191996831709814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-7846141657968641602009-08-05T14:07:52.176+01:002009-08-05T14:07:52.176+01:00I tried to convince my work that I'd be a bett...I tried to convince my work that I'd be a better employee if I had some more 'rounded' experience, involving sunbathing in the park, busking, and selling bootleg merchandise on ebay during work hours, but funnily enough they wouldn't go for it.Donut Hinge Partynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-76369510403016652742009-08-05T14:06:00.046+01:002009-08-05T14:06:00.046+01:00I have no objection to Mr Goodman pursuing whateve...I have no objection to Mr Goodman pursuing whatever financial interests he likes in the hours of 6pm to 9am weekdays, on weekends and during his Paid Leave, provided he doesn't use taxpayer funded assets (such as a house, food or stationery) to give him an unfair competitive advantage over his contemporaries.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-20455749298875495932009-08-05T13:46:39.063+01:002009-08-05T13:46:39.063+01:00I think two ideas are being conflated by some on h...I think two ideas are being conflated by some on here. There's having the credentials to be elected and then there's devoting all your time to the job once you're elected. Voters can decide whether someone has the 'real world' experience to do the job but once they're elected they should devote all their time to the stuff we pay them for. Recall elections, primaries and being forced to go through reselection before each general election would toughen the whole thing up too. Don't get distracted by someone who isn't being prevented from doing a second job, but is simply too embarrassed to declare his earnings. And as others have pointed out, given the fools parade of MPs with plentiful outside interests over the last few months, we can hardly say that 2nd jobs or previous work experience guarantee wisdom.Duncan Cooksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00670976337437990284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-12260649508632845462009-08-05T12:29:33.090+01:002009-08-05T12:29:33.090+01:00Duncan et al, the problem with professional politi...Duncan et al, the problem with professional politicians is that they become recipients of taxation rather than payers of it. Therefore, how can they represent taxpayers? Control of government spending is the primary role of Parliament and it's secondary role is scutenising legislation - that's why defeat for Gordon Brown's budget last year would have been a confidence issue and a matter for resignation (and why he retreated so painfully).<br /><br />By allowing professional politicians to dominate, we have created a system where the tail wags the dog, where the recipients of taxation have more control than those who pay it. This is a similar situation to that in Sparta, Rome and Bizantium, all before their falls. In each case the taxation became so out-of-control that people stopped even bothering to have children, further weakening tax revenues. Rome fell not by defeat in the battlefield (mostly) but by simply running out of Romans and even conquered people. The vacuum was filled by immigrants with no loyalty to the old order, who dispised both the bad bits (the sexual depravity, the decadence and corruption) and what was left of the good (their traditions of equality, the rule of law and learning) creating the Dark Ages that lasted for half a century. A similar fate now surely awaits the EU, except now with Muslims rather than Visigoths.<br /><br />Paul Goodman is typical of the decadence of our political class. He puts himself before his principles. If he really believed what he says in his article he would stay to fight, whatever the personal cost. Labour can write whatever laws it likes but, like Sinn Fein, he doesn't have to obey them. If he really believes that MPs should keep the outside pay rates private he should stand on that basis and ask the people of Wycombe to support him. That's democracy and it would be a brave or mad government that would defy the people so blantently.Scary Biscuitshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03039289019338752778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-19354050500901979972009-08-05T12:13:10.994+01:002009-08-05T12:13:10.994+01:00Good though many people seem to think he is, he is...Good though many people seem to think he is, he is horribly underestimating the current mood of the British public if he thinks that a candidate standing on a "I'll be your full time MP" ticket would have an advantage.<br /><br />Common sense might tell him otherwise, so also might a bit of faith in the public's ability to make an informed decision (he's only ever been an MP during a Labour government, so of course he's never seen this in practice). And the result from Totnes would confirm it for him - two local councillors went for the experienced politician ticket and were beaten by a GP.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-56170744706462941102009-08-05T11:55:11.013+01:002009-08-05T11:55:11.013+01:00What is wrong with professional politicians ?
Gor...What is wrong with professional politicians ?<br /><br />Gordon Brown; Lord whatever the hell he is now Mandelson;<br />Blair; Blairs; the whole damn labour front bench.<br /><br />They have NO idea how the majority of the people in this country live.<br /><br />Bring back the amateur politician - at least you stood a chance of him standing up to the party whips and REPRESENTING his constituency.<br /><br />Professional politicians should result in Rento-kill being called in to de-louse the countrypeter_dtmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13460191996831709814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-19115162981475937822009-08-05T11:31:38.752+01:002009-08-05T11:31:38.752+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Unsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08307116169498533047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-85679835455570300352009-08-05T11:27:22.097+01:002009-08-05T11:27:22.097+01:00This is the action of a weak man who sees the faul...This is the action of a weak man who sees the faults in the system - and decides he'll walk away to enjoy other 'opportunities'. His analysis of the membership of the Labour and Conservative benches is poor and inadequate. I'd certainly agree that professional politicians are not a good thing - although one needs carefully to define 'professionalism'. <br /><br />He hasn't made any 'contract' with the people of Wycombe, nor they with him. Moral obligation is one thing, contract is another. What does he think his 'contract' was? <br /><br />I'm not impressed. Maybe the good people of Wycombe will be luckier in their next choice of representative, certainly they ought to be more circumspect.<br /><br />As for 'every working day', well how does eighty-two days summer holiday sound?Unsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08307116169498533047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-82264512611992934142009-08-05T10:58:25.342+01:002009-08-05T10:58:25.342+01:00"The way the councillors' allowance syste..."The way the councillors' allowance system is going some councillors see the role as full time and are losing touch with the electorate. We need people with real life experience in parliament and council chambers"<br /><br />Funnily enough, I'm running for my local council in May, I've FOI'd for a breakdown of £1.3 million the 57 of them claim (more than £22,000 a piece), just to see how many of them are claiming a FTE equiviliant salary.<br />I'm also hoping the incumbant will have some dirty laundry of course, but I doubt they'll send me the receipts for prostitutes, even if they really existed.DominicJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-34364597612612796672009-08-05T10:45:44.088+01:002009-08-05T10:45:44.088+01:00Parliament will be a bettter place without the lik...Parliament will be a bettter place without the likes of this self serving individual.<br /><br />He has a very high opinion of himself bordering on arrogance.<br /><br />Cameron is changing things, he is making Tory MPs more accountable to the electorate and it seems this individual doesn't like it.<br /><br />What has he got to hide?<br /><br />His contract with the electorate was to work for them full time, a contract he has obviously broken.<br /><br />His greatest contribution is to step down.Ian Keennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-2040794848901917832009-08-05T10:16:10.822+01:002009-08-05T10:16:10.822+01:00The way the councillors' allowance system is g...The way the councillors' allowance system is going some councillors see the role as full time and are losing touch with the electorate. We need people with real life experience in parliament and council chambersAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-11042760902428935832009-08-05T09:06:36.534+01:002009-08-05T09:06:36.534+01:00My MP is a proffessional Politician.
He was born,...My MP is a proffessional Politician.<br /><br />He was born, went to school, went to college, went to university to study politics, became a locl councillor, became an MP.<br />He was almost immediatly made chair of Labour Friends of Isreal and now he's a PPS.<br />Will he be a shadow minister after the next election?<br />I wouldnt bet against it.<br />In 15 years time he could be PM, having never had a job beyond Councillor and MP.<br /><br />What exactly does he know about being a "working man"?<br />Or anything.<br />Who can he honestly represent, beyond Officialdom. He can parrot lines about saving JLR, but he's never worked there, or anywhere like it, so simply cannot have an informed opinion.<br /><br /><br />He can be at his desk 10 hours a year or 8800 hours a year, it makes no difference, because he just doesnt have a clue.<br /><br /><br />But hey, dont listen to me, when given a choice, the People of Totnes selected a GP over two council leaders for the Tory Parliamtary Candidate.DominicJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-55409412195399198542009-08-05T08:10:26.369+01:002009-08-05T08:10:26.369+01:00How odd that almost everyone commenting to date ha...How odd that almost everyone commenting to date has completely missed the point. Do you think this is the promised massive labour web presence Iain?<br /><br />No matter: Many of you have completely missed the point- you know that phrase "well rounded"? you know, the one usually applied to 18 year olds trying to get into the best universities. <br /><br />Well, now imagine NOT BEING ABLE TO APPLY it to people in charge of running the armed forces, and spending £600bn p/a of taxpayers money. You moan that MP's should devote all of their time to working out the country's issues- and you possibly have a point, but the full attention of someone not up to the job is worse than pointless, it's downright dangerous when applied to the people who are supposed to run the country. What is it about this concept that's so hard to grasp?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-3007155050190512792009-08-05T07:51:50.177+01:002009-08-05T07:51:50.177+01:00Western "democracy" is drifting towards ...Western "democracy" is drifting towards centralised power invested in the hands of a self-selecting, neo-aristocracy, remote from the People who know best and will be sure to act primarily in their own interests and for their own benefit.<br /><br />I blame the People.Johnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-19234599391163884502009-08-05T07:25:57.860+01:002009-08-05T07:25:57.860+01:00He's the MP from High Wycombe. That's in S...He's the MP from High Wycombe. That's in South Buckinghamshire. There's a good railway connection to Marylebone Station. From memory, it takes about 30 minutes.<br /><br />What's he doing claiming a second home allowance at all?Rush-is-Righthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12860467341217977185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-17736226155688182072009-08-05T07:17:45.328+01:002009-08-05T07:17:45.328+01:00Plenty of MPs of all parties have extra jobs. i.e....Plenty of MPs of all parties have extra jobs. i.e. Ministers or opposition spokespeople. If Gordon Brown, Nick Clegg and David Cameron can be party leader as well as MP, why can't a backbencher do something else he or she wants to?<br /><br />The depressing thing about Paul Goodman's article is that he doesn't believe his own party is going to do anything abouth what he sees as the problem. He can't have much faith in his own powers of persuasion and, if so, probably shouldn't be an MP.Julian Gallnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-35180760320484438702009-08-05T07:05:20.238+01:002009-08-05T07:05:20.238+01:00Ignoring the self-serving pleading about outside i...Ignoring the self-serving pleading about outside interests (it's disclosure, not a ban on second jobs), it's quite a good account of the decline of parliament. <br /><br />Many of the top politicians have two jobs - they are MPs and they are ministers/shadows - and the ministerial jobs are almost full time and barely related to constituency responsibilities or representation. So it is established as a norm that MPs can do more than just be an MP. Yes there is a case for more separation of executive and legislature - but that would be a fundamental upheaval. <br /><br />I would prefer to see people with accumulated experience enter parliament and give it their all once there, but it's not the end of the world if they maintain outside interests... the important thing is that they are effective and accountable to the electorate. So more transparency is an obvious quid pro quo for allowing outside interests. After the expenses saga does he really think openness is the enemy?Michael Daviesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-9149092080877232832009-08-05T06:58:28.403+01:002009-08-05T06:58:28.403+01:00How very Sarah Palin of him...and how very disinge...How very Sarah Palin of him...and how very disingenuous of him.<br /><br />Another hypocritical 'politician'.<br />Good riddance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-38898113700220131492009-08-05T03:11:00.208+01:002009-08-05T03:11:00.208+01:00It's a heartbreaking and piercing piece, yet ....It's a heartbreaking and piercing piece, yet ... in a sense, he's with the socialist programme because he writes that "women were underrepresented". <br /><br />Excuse me, I think it is the voters who are supposed to be represented by an MP. Not sexes. Or colours. Or religions or sects. <br /><br />As wonderful as his article is, and it is! - it is not the job of Parliament to make certain that both sexes are "represented" equally in the face of how the electorate votes. <br /><br />It is not the business of government to accord majorities to women, gays and that ghastly American term adopted by the British left because it sounded so trendy, "ethnic minorities", of whom there were few in Britain until Labour imported them wholesale.<br /><br />But Mr Goodman is an honourable man. I wish he wouldn't go, but I suspect he will serve public life better in the private sector than in the sludge of Westminster. I for one wish him Godspeed.<br /><br />And I believe that politicians should be connected with the real, wealth-creating world and understand the issues of people in that world, who pay their salaries, than the professional parasite world. Which is what the Palace of Westminster has become.Veritynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-91731314517051717832009-08-05T02:27:40.720+01:002009-08-05T02:27:40.720+01:00Another sanctimonious offering from an MP who simp...Another sanctimonious offering from an MP who simply wants to earn more money. What on earth is wrong with a professional politician? We want amateurs running the country, is that it? Maybe if they concentrated on the job they're elected to do we'd get better policy. They already get stonking great holidays, which only go to prove how disconnected they are from the running of the country never mind the electorate. What a load of cobblers. Good riddance.Duncan Cooksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00670976337437990284noreply@blogger.com