A veteran (Conservative) member of Parliament has taken to the newspapers lamenting the fact that he finds it difficult to ‘manage’ on his salary of £81,932 a year. ($111,300)

Tory MP reveals grim reality of living on just £82,000 as he asks for payrise

He compares himself to qualified family doctors, who currently earn more than £100,000 a year from the NHS. ($136,000) He forgets to mention all the years of study at university, medical school, and post-graduate qualifications required to be a family doctor in the UK. The only qualification a member of parliament needs is to get enough people to put a cross next to his or her name on election day.

This is without considering his expenses allowance of course, which is currently an average of £150,000 a year for each member of parliament. ($204,000)
(Family doctors do not get expenses, but he didn’t mention that)

That expenses figure (often greatly exceeded) is supposed to allow for a residence in London, secretarial help, entertainment, and travel. And on top of all this, they get access to a very generous pension scheme, a subsidised restaurant in the Houses of Parliament, and long holidays each year when the parliament closes.

Compare that to the national average salary, which at the moment is estimated to be £29,000 a year. ($39,500) And consider those working on the national minimum wage of £8.91 an hour, ($12) equating to an annual salary of £18,500 for a 40-hour working week. ($21,140)

These parliamentary parasites make me sick to my stomach, and interviews like the one featured in the link go to show that they have no concept of what life is like for ‘normal’ people, and no regard for those living on low wages, or struggling to survive at the bottom of the social ladder in Britain.

I would make them all live on the national average salary, not a penny more. You would soon see them campaigning to increase salaries and hourly rates of pay.