[Cyclist]

I think Trickett tweeted that out of jealousy as he's too fucking useless to ever be offered a second job. He's not exactly shining at the job he *has* got.

[davidjay]

Couldn’t he have gone away for 30 days accepted his punishment realised he made a gross misjudgement returned repented for 10 minutes and be back in his position as an Mp?

It seems he genuinely thought he was being paid huge sums of money for his genius insight and had done no wrong. Either that, or he saw how often Johnson gets away with stuff and thought “I’ll have a piece of that”. Regardless, it means he’s either extraordinarily stupid or extraordinarily corrupt.

I'd go with extraordinarily arrogant, just like the rest of them who think they're untouchable. And to elaborate on what Crabcakes said, the biggest thing to come out of this is the influence wielded by the editor of the Daily Mail.

[Samanfur]

James O'Brien's thoughts. I'm not sure I agree with the caption, but he's definitely got a point:

[Tubby Isaacs]

Narrator- it didn't say that. It said jobs like nursing where you have to do a certain amount of work to maintain professional qualification. It didn't say anything about "public service". What's public service anyway? Is that only public sector work?

I'm not sure that policy was such an obvious winner actually. Lots of the Paterson stuff, even if properly declared and carried out, is certainly unpopular. But would people think somebody carrying on doing what they did before they came in to politics would be a bad thing? I think that's far less clear. I reckon the Tories would be pretty happy to have the argument on that basis.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Does Owen think Diane Abbott did wrong by appearing on This Week? Not that I want to pick on her, she's just the example that comes to mind. It was a fairly popular and watchable show, and she was worth her fee. But is that public service?

[Andy McDandy]

One thing to consider is the typical MP's life. They're surrounded by people whose job is to basically tell them what to think and care about, regulate public access to them, and tell them they're wonderful. Moreso, the higher you rise. No wonder a feeling of invulnerability sets in.

[kreuzberger]

They are legislators, for fuck's fucking sake. Legislating is what they do.

If they can draw up laws criminalising "repetitive beats", they can sure as shit find a way to officially frown upon those of their number who are skimming anything that moves.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Now I think about it, and I know that you can always find something hypocritical somewhere along the line with anybody, but wouldn't Jez have got killed on that in the election campaign (had it become an issue), having taken £20k from Iranian state TV?

[davidjay]

Even if it's not possible for second jobs to be banned, it surely isn't beyond the ingenuity of the Parliamentary process to come up with some way of ensuring that ministers, at least, can't subsequently profit from legislation they helped formulate.

[kreuzberger]

Even if it's not possible for second jobs to be banned, it surely isn't beyond the ingenuity of the Parliamentary process to come up with some way of ensuring that ministers, at least, can't subsequently profit from legislation they helped formulate.

That's what I was getting at, albeit not quite so eloquently.

[Abernathy]

When are the Trots going to get the message that you don’t just re-cycle every fucking policy from a manifesto that resulted in Labour’s worst defeat since 1935 just because the Trots think they’re the donkey’s knobber?

In fact, when will they realise that NO general election manifesto is ever written using that principle - and for good reason?

This policy is unworkable in any case. There is nothing wrong with MPs lobbying on behalf of their constituents or strategic industries benefitting employment in their constituencies - just about every MP does it all the time - it’s part of the job. You just aren’t allowed to trouser half a million quid for doing so.

[Tubby Isaacs]

They are legislators, for fuck's fucking sake. Legislating is what they do.

If they can draw up laws criminalising "repetitive beats", they can sure as shit find a way to officially frown upon those of their number who are skimming anything that moves.

Anybody, not least Tory backbenchers in the 90s, can write bad legislation. Maybe one of the many good Twitter lawyers has come up with something. I just think the "just ban second jobs", well, OK, "nursing is OK" is very convincing, nor would even be that popular.

A wise man of this parish suggested a cap on these earnings in another place. I quite like the idea of that as part of the solution.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Even if it's not possible for second jobs to be banned, it surely isn't beyond the ingenuity of the Parliamentary process to come up with some way of ensuring that ministers, at least, can't subsequently profit from legislation they helped formulate.

That happened a fair bit under Major, I think, with ministers standing down and then joining boards of companies they privatized. I don't know what the rules are now.

[Tubby Isaacs]

When are the Trots going to get the message that you don’t just re-cycle every fucking policy from a manifesto that resulted in Labour’s worst defeat since 1935 just because the Trots think they’re the donkey’s knobber?

In fact, when will they realise that NO general election manifesto is ever written using that principle - and for good reason?

This policy is unworkable in any case. There is nothing wrong with MPs lobbying on behalf of their constituents or strategic industries benefitting employment in their constituencies - just about every MP does it all the time - it’s part of the job. You just aren’t allowed to trouser half a million quid for doing so.

It's amazing how many great policies that manifesto had in it. I see from a report this week the Brexit Party saved up to 25 Labour seats, and all. Barring a stupid decision by Farage, that could have been about 180 Labour seats, which is getting on for John Major 1997 standards.

Whatever the merits, Owen at least ought to remember what it said.

Register of Members Interests is fairly arcane stuff. to lots of voters. I wonder if there's a better way to make sure that MPs make sure constituents are informed about their second jobs.

[Youngian]

Allowing second jobs but a cap on second earnings of say £10K is an acknowledgment that MPs may wish to keep a foot in their previous jobs as they can’t guarantee their future. Or want to stay in touch with the ‘real world.’ For Tory MPs with non executive director gigs, 10K will seem like an insult and not worth getting out of bed for. Good.

[kreuzberger]

You don't have to stray that far beyond the shores of Blighty - waving to the paramilitary jet-skiers as you pass them - to find countries which manage now to control their endemic corruption. France, Italy, Germany, Greece, to name a few of the biggest guns.

That the UK needs to start from scratch to combat this malaise is just more John Bull exceptionalism. The country is and has always been a fucking cesspit of easy pickings from bottomless pools. Johnny Foreigner could teach you a few things about how to clean things up.

But only if you want to.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Edit: Ian

I keep wondering if we're missing something obvious with this approach, seeing that I've only seen you suggest it today.

Here's Dr Rosena's declaration of interests.

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/25579 ... an/tooting

Looks like she'd be over the £10k limit quite substantially, so I might go higher. How about the UK median wage or something neatly populist?

[Youngian]

That the UK needs to start from scratch to combat this malaise is just more John Bull exceptionalism. The country is and has always been a fucking cesspit of easy pickings from bottomless pools. Johnny Foreigner could teach you a few things about how to clean things up.

Who does the former DPP think he is going around defining corruption?

[Bones McCoy]

When are the Trots going to get the message that you don’t just re-cycle every fucking policy from a manifesto that resulted in Labour’s worst defeat since 1935 just because the Trots think they’re the donkey’s knobber?

In fact, when will they realise that NO general election manifesto is ever written using that principle - and for good reason?

This policy is unworkable in any case. There is nothing wrong with MPs lobbying on behalf of their constituents or strategic industries benefitting employment in their constituencies - just about every MP does it all the time - it’s part of the job. You just aren’t allowed to trouser half a million quid for doing so.

It's amazing how many great policies that manifesto had in it. I see from a report this week the Brexit Party saved up to 25 Labour seats, and all. Barring a stupid decision by Farage, that could have been about 180 Labour seats, which is getting on for John Major 1997 standards.

Whatever the merits, Owen at least ought to remember what it said.

Register of Members Interests is fairly arcane stuff. to lots of voters. I wonder if there's a better way to make sure that MPs make sure constituents are informed about their second jobs.

I always liked the American idea.

Your congressmen should dress up like Nascar drivers, with the names of company's that pay them all over their clothing.

We could take it a step further with "Constituency naming rights".
"I call upon the honourable member for Barratt Homes to respond"...

[Youngian]

Your congressmen should dress up like Nascar drivers, with the names of company's that pay them all over their clothing.

MPs sponsored by charities, trade organisations or trade unions might like that to highlight the causes they represent. Others might not be so keen for some reason.