Should Politicians Be Paid More? | Question Time

Why do so few people know who the Lib Dem leader is? Should the arts feature more prominently in school curriculums? What are freeports and should we be concerned about them?
Rory and Alastair answer all these questions and more in this week's TRIP Question Time.
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00:00 Intro
00:31 Are we doing enough to combat cyber crime and what was the craziest cyber attack during your time in government?
06:19 Special economic zones and free ports - why are these changes being made so quietly?
18:30 Based on the Albin Kurti interview - what are both your approaches on compromising with parties and actors that don’t align with your politics and values?
23:38 What kinds of ID can be used for voting?
24:17 Create Streets new report mentioned building more housing. What’s your advice on making large structural changes like this happen within government?
26:48 - Grenfell, how can this play a role in Theresa May’s legacy?
29:15 What do you think of the fact that less than one in three people can name the Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey?
35:43 In light of Labour’s Access to Arts plan, how important do you think the arts for the UK as ‘soft power’ in the current geo-political climate are? Should it be more prominent in the curriculum?
42:15 MPs Salaries
46:55 Would Rory take a position as an ambassador under a Starmer government? If so, which could would he like to be an ambassador to?
48:48 Outro

[@PaulMcCaffreyfmac]

Pay MPs £150,000 a year, no problem BUT - having second jobs including consultancy work gets the whip withdrawn. P.A.Y.E. and N.I. to be paid like 'normal' folk. Basic functional constituency office provided, and if the MP wants new carpet or whatever they pay for it themselves. No expense account claims for anything but 2nd or 3rd class train travel (if indeed 3rd class still exists) or a 50p a mile petrol allowance to and from constituencies. Employing family members gets the whip removed. MPs to have between 2 and 10 assistants allocated (depending on the MP's position) from the civil service pool. All constituency MPs should have a clinic every two months where they ONLY see constituents who support parties other than the one to which they belong. If they are not in ministerial posts they must have at least one consituency clinic per week. If it's possible for Parliament to call by-elections where the whip has been removed from a member (for either of the two reasons stated above) then let that be done. Parliament could be clean if it had the will to clean itself.

[@paulmaggs3212]

I don’t see why the govt doesn’t provide a fortified Travelodge for the MP’s to stay in while in London on parliamentary business. It would avoid all the flipping and security issues in having MP’s stay in their own flats in London.

[@JamJam0189]

If it costs as much as immigrant accommodation does in private hotels with private security it wouldn't be much cheaper. Unless they had a nationalised hotel. @@paulmaggs3212

[@brusselssprouts560]

VOILA!

[@rosey_ie]

Hear hear!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@stephensimpson8531]

I recently had an interview for a job paying a fraction of this salary. To get to the interview stage I needed a PhD in a relevant discipline plus extensive professional experience. In addition I was assessed with a series of cognitive reasoning and personality tests. Might be “interesting” to be half as selective with our MPs….

[@larrygerry985]

How can an MP work '90 hours a week" but yet have multiple board memberships and other jobs? That is the issue. Most people only can cope with 1 job but yet we are lead to believe we have 100s of super human people in parliament?

[@thejigantics2641]

Great question…good luck with getting an answer

[@jasonshank1408]

Because the pay for MP’s is poor and they need to therefore supplement their income with other jobs. Also because the inherent pay is poor, they don’t attract superhumans

[@chrisjordan4210]

I live on Dartmoor, there are several runways available for aircraft, unfortunately they all end in a bog! Oh maybe that's what the Tories meant?

[@user-hu1yi8ox9z]

Some Bourds jobs meet as little as one a month or 3 months

[@neilpickup237]

I think that 'creative multi-tasking' plays a part.

[@KarlBraveman]

I'd support MP's being paid more IF they are banned from second jobs!!!

[@tmarritt]

& all sorts of investment & family having certain jobs... It's quite difficult

[@f1remandg]

I’m 73 former Conservative and all I see is everything being cut and we saw the issues that the cutting of social services in covid, but it’s every single thing that has just been cut, underfunded, cut more, police, Army or forces, NHS, On every level, transport, roads, social services, it’s just disgusting and the incompetence and liars that are still in government is just unbelievable, there is nothing to be proud of, the fact that we’ve had five failed PMs and they just walk away!

[@roseannemain9957]

Everything is cut but the national debt keeps rising so where is all the money going? Only thing not cut is MP's salaries.

[@geraldbutler5484]

I think of the charlatan Johnson sitting in his little moated mansion,living the comfortable life while the country he governed(?) crumbles. Rewarded for nonchalant failure.

[@user-bu9nb8wr6e]

At £91,000 a year paid by us. We should expect our employees not to lie to us and I would not expect my employees to be moonlighting with second jobs. If they have time for second jobs, then they are not working hard enough for us. It needs to be a criminal offence with a custodial sentence to lie to the public if an MP or a news outlet. Any MP that wouldn't agree to that should be unelectable.

[@nnickrr]

I worked in IT at the time (Y2K) at Sedgwick, 3rd biggest insurance broker in the world. The reason for the prevention of problems was nothing to do with government but companies providing updates that dealt with potential Y2K problems. For instance at Sedgwick we had extensive lists of systems and their parts and if this or that was either certified for Y2K or had been updated for it. Government was not involved or important in any way at all nor useful either. Potential risks were dealt with by techy people doing boring systematic check work that's invisible apart from the overtime bill! Hardly any wonder the perception is it was a myth of a problem... did you see that episode of the IT crowd where Jen has the Internet in a box...

[@davehollowell2104]

I was one of the analyst programmers who worked on our Y2K changes on the companies IBM AS400 Finance, Distribution and Manufacturing packages. It took four years work to make the changes to fix the issues. Many systems did have issues but the millions of programmers stopped at least 99% of possible problems occurring. Many other changes are forced on software houses due to government changes being forced on companies with minimal notice. The IPT changes we were given around eight weeks notice ad this also involved writing to millions of policyholders.

[@canonbangpowell]

A programmer said that 2000 (decimal) was just another number to binary systems. If there was going to be a problem it would happen in 2024. Well, we've survived this far. A tribute perhaps to all your good work, or maybe it was just all BS in the first place

[@dominicbritt]

it must be nice to be an armchair expert and know nothing about anything, but at the same time profess to know everything...@@canonbangpowell

[@dominicbritt]

I worked in a global Banking organisation and the Y2K issues were very real. Microsoft and Unix based operating systems did not work past the year 2000. The operating systems were updated to fix this, and ALL developers had to analyse the impact on their software and fix it - the scale of this was NOT trivial. Most payments systems used in international banking date back to the 1970s and most of these institutions are still trying to work out how to modernise them. What you see as a customer is a pretty, modern front end, but the back end services are pretty grizzly.

[@bookie5667]

​@@canonbangpowellnot quite. Its not about 2000 being just another number. When I started writing software disk space was extremely expensive. For example, the first hard disk for a micro computer (the 8 bit forerunner to a pc) cost about £5k for 5 MEGABYTES (no, that's not a typo - I meant to write megabytes). However, it was / is possible to save disk space by compressing data. For example, a four digit integer can be compressed into 2 bytes. Similarly a date can be compressed and stored as 2 bytes PROVIDED the century is omitted.... so this is what was done. The absence of a century in the data only became problematic as year 2000 approached. Up until this time it could be assumed that every date in a database was in the 20th century ie 19xx (ok - there were a few exceptions, eg dates of birth, the date of the battle of Hastings etc). However, after 2000 this could no longer be assumed and action needed to be taken to address this.... Hence all the work to address Y2K issues. I hope this rambling explanation made sense!

[@alasdairstewartmackintosh8165]

I known about two organisations who did not bother as the systems was not critical. These systems crashed and to be replaced.

[@djohnston6856]

Right, so people on the worst wages in the country or surviving on universal credit have Anne Widdecombe and the likes come along to patronise them and tell them to buy cheaper beans, cut all costs like mobile or tv contracts etc. But we're seeing media sympathy for people on 100k saying they're struggling to survive. Can't they just be told to downgrade from a BMW to a second hand Kia, move out of their detached house to an estate with terraces or just shop in Aldi instead of Waitrose. Ffs

[@jezlawrence720]

I'm fine with politicians getting a pay rise but I think it should be a % that matches the LOWEST they are awarding to public sector or universal credit - whichever is lowest.

[@Loot4Students]

You get what you pay for. Why would a successful individual go into politics if they had to take an enormous paycut?

[@sockwithaticket]

Perhaps those individuals are the least suited to governance. After all running a country is not the same as running a business. It is also not generally the best minds that rise to the top in the private sector, but those with the least scruples.

[@jezlawrence720]

@@Loot4Students "you get what you pay for" is one of the greatest trick the private sector ever played on it's customers. Dear reader, I give you branded fashion, haute couture, and Teslas famous build quality. Or UK water companies. Or UK bus companies. Or... Well the list goes on. And on and on and on. You don't get what you pay for. You pay for what the market will bear. Which is why it's long past time we stopped agreeing to borrow more than 3x salary to buy houses

[@whitewittock]

I don't know why this hasn't been a story in the news but all free tennis courts in London's parks at the same time have been locked and given to private companies to run and manage bookings for up to £8 per hour. Please can you shine a light on this?

[@neilpickup237]

I spent years working on Y2K changes and get very angry about how so many with little understanding dismiss the issue. Almost to the level of a conspiracy theory! At the time, I was working for an 'in-house' IT department for a major insurance company, so the often banded around accusation that Y2K was just another cash cow for the unscrupulous did not apply. Doing no more than was necessary at the minimum cost was our mantra. In the main, development resources were diverted, so the horrendous costs were not over-inflated. A few years before 2000, we ran a test where the date was moved forward just to see how big of a problem we had. To describe the issues as catastrophic would be an understatement! In many cases the programs just crashed and refused to run, while others just passed incorrect data forwards. Did some jump on the bandwagon and make excessive profits? Of course they did, but to use the lack of a major catastrophe as 'proof' that the issue did not exist, or was at least overhyped beyond reason, just demonstrates a level of ignorance, often accompanied with a degree of arrogance. Unfortunately, this myth is perperuated by respected commentators who should know better. Dunning-Kruger effect strikes again!

[@pjzz2000]

Glib ignorance re y2k. Very intelligent and decent human beings, but you sure are clueless about Y2K 😂

[@jonathangammond3019]

Love how the question about freeports and special economic zones follows the discussion about scams.

[@neil_gg_]

The more they are paid, the less they understand how the rest of us live.

[@andrewgrillet5835]

They should be paid the "average wage" so that ... (a) they know what it is like to live on the average wage, and therefore how most people live, and (2) so they don't get into politics for the money.

[@andrewbaumann2661]

​​@@andrewgrillet5835If their pay were that low they'd just end up being more corrupt in order to make more money and you'd have lower quality candidates because the sensible ones would just find higher paying jobs elsewhere

[@bigbarry8343]

@@andrewgrillet5835 better yet - the "living wage". Sounds adequate.

[@VeeSeven700]

I believe they should be paid more. We should be rewarding people who stand up to lead the country accordingly. But I would also introduce two other things alongside that. Firstly, no other jobs are allowed while serving as a politician. The salary is the salary. Take it or leave it. Secondly, term limits. Politicians should be paid very well because they are doing a vital job. But nobody should be a lifetime career politician. Serve a maximum two terms, so 10 years? Then you're not allowed to stand again. This would generate new thought and energy into the leadership of the country and not allow us to get stuck with the same people for decades whether they are popular or useful or not.

[@Crispman_777]

Term limits don't guarantee that at all. Look at the US. You're better off having the price of participation in elections reduced

[@DeanRTaylor]

There does also need to be some stability. Having radically different parliaments every ten years could mean we continuously change our trajectory. Sometimes that's a good things, other times it's not. Ten years isn't really that long to master any job let alone running a country.

[@Crispman_777]

@@DeanRTaylor That's how China does so much stuff. Well, that and general oppression of its people...

[@buzzukfiftythree]

I doubt anyone would sign up to stand as a candidate if they knew it was time limited. It would prove a disincentive especially if you’re not already wealthy.

[@buzzukfiftythree]

I doubt anyone would sign up to stand as a candidate if they knew it was time limited. It would prove a disincentive especially if you’re not already wealthy.

[@bring_everything]

Er... Rory, it's Captain Haddock on the phone, he wants his jumper back.

[@philipmulville8218]

😂

[@user-ni8ij6hz2j]

Where's Waldo? Where's Rory? Those stripes are loud 📢

[@dandantshm8894]

He needs to start eating cakes again too to fill out that jumper

[@NebulaObserver]

Omg.. I spent hours sifting through programming code changing two digit numbers.. Thanks for dis all my efforts😢

[@sphinx1017]

I worked as an MPs assistant. an MP job is like a very cushy, part time job where they don't really have to deliver anything of value. He focused on Westminster 'projects,' and ignored his constituents entirely.

[@clarkpatient7950]

What was the job like? What generally did you have to do?

[@sphinx1017]

@@clarkpatient7950 answer the phone. Write letters and order food and drinks at Westminster. There wasn't much to do. I was bored a lot

[@andrew_b_uk]

I am both politically engaged and an avid listener to the podcast. I have watched this episode twice and on both occasions I couldn’t remember Ed Davey’s name until Rory said it. Surely that’s a bad sign for the Lib Dems.

[@Elspm]

I've looked up the leader on multiple occasions because I keep on forgetting who he is, and I too am pretty politically engaged. So yeah, I think they've got problems.

[@Jaaj2009]

I live in an out suburb and the problem isn't generally permission to build up, its that developers wont build up unless they can build 30+ floor buildings.

[@skylineuk1485]

The reason Y2K wasn’t an issue was that most software teams worked like crazy to stop it being an issue. It was a real issue that cost a lot of money to fix but was fixed before the poo hit the fan. As someone who actually fixed systems with the issue I find the myth of it not being an issue really sad and for Rory to think 10% carried on with no issue without a fix is a disservice to the engineers who sorted it out. It was as ever the press that blew it up to something different from what it was. Real problems existed in hardware that would give erroneous results after Y2K, non updatable firmware and old software with no existing support.

[@jeromedavies2408]

To be fair, we've had so many Prime Ministers it's hard to keep up.

[@bearsbreeches]

Housing paid for, expenses up to £250,000 I don't think they need more. They need to learn to budget better 😂

[@Jack-yg7de]

Spot on. If they can't budget their own money why are we trusting them with ours?

[@col.hertford9855]

Y2K wasn’t a problem because the work done.

[@UKprl]

It is a tad irritating because if they weren't involved with the compatibility checks that were carried out they should not need to speculate about things they don't understand. And yes I was in local government and ran some of the checks, distributed as a simple tool run on each workstation, and a sticker to apply to checked systems (no more complex than with routine PAT electrical tests). The mainframe/unix systems and application support teams respectively will have had more detailed work to check where dates were stored and passed. In some cases for example an interim solution was to re-interpret 2-digit dates as 1950-2049 which provides some wiggle room. While flights and power grids were often talked about as high profile risks in headlines, things dealing with long term accounting such as pensions systems are more likely to span a longer period and depend on past / future dates.

[@col.hertford9855]

@@UKprl I agree. I have worked with a bunch of IT professionals that spent years testing, developing fixes and rewriting code for nuclear and banks and other industries. It shows the utter disconnect between politicians and actual work. I think Alistair to his credit didn’t belittle the work done, Rory with his humanities degrees clearly doesn’t have a clue though.

[@ColinSmith2001]

I think much of the issues came from companies who had no idea if their systems would have a problem or not? They had no records of how the dates would be handled and what issues might come from it not running correctly? There was then a big volume of work in checking things that were probably going to be ok and were probably not high risk, but nobody actually knew for sure, because things were all a bit cobbled together/systems that were never expected to run up to 2000 without being replaced. That big volume of "dunno" work maybe drowns out the smaller but more critical work that was done? This sort of general theme goes back a few weeks to Rory and Alastair's discussion on who does long term planning in government, the agreement nobody really did it, and the seeming acceptance that was fine because it all worked out somehow in the end......

[@jbaidley]

I'm envious of the 3 in 10 who don't known who the PM is. The older the get, the less I think being politically engaged is good for you.

[@sunseeker9581]

They just dont read/watch the news

[@user-my1xe6pw4y]

Yes they should be paid more. To attract the best and the brightest and avoid any desire for corruption

[@SD-fv9dh]

Their pay should increase in line with minimum wage at absolute most. MP pay rises should be nowhere near the top of the political agenda right now.

[@LisaTh-3-d]

I agree they should not be considering enriching themselves any further; given how poverty is rife.

[@idio-syncrasy]

Sounds reasonable. Give them a multiple of the minimum wage.

[@aking-plums6985]

MPs should only get paid if they carry out their manifestos.

[@lenabo9929]

@@aking-plums6985 That is extremely idealistic. manifestos are misunderstood. They should really come with a massive caution, as implementing them fully or parts of them depends on the political climate at the time. Policy need to be flexible to reflect the changes in economy

[@Chuckavailability]

Minimum wage has increased by 31% in the last 4 years (£8.72 in 1 April 2020, rising to £11.44 on 1 April 2024). If MP salaries had increased at the same rate as this, then as of 1 April 2024 they would increase to £107,500. (From £81,932 on 1 April 2020). I've picked a arbitrary period to illustrate the point but based on a standard 40 hours week, minimum wage pays ~£23,860. If we maintain the current 2023/24 ratio of 3.98 times for MP salary this still means an increase on 1 April 2024 to ~£95,000. Either method shows that MP salaries have not kept up with the increase in minimum wage in either the last 5 years or the last 12 months, so I have to ask are you arguing for greater increases in salary for MPs, or is linking to minimum wage level too simplistic a mechanism?

[@mikesmith-vb6fz]

🎉yes for compulsory voting as long as one of the options is ' none of the above '

[@aytw661]

Yes, they should be paid more, but no second job allowed

[@screamstation]

The idea that paying them more will make them immune to lobbyists' influence is for the birds. Their greed knows no bounds. They should be paid less.

[@hannahb950]

US pols are paid a lot more and being in office appears to increase their wealth enormously when in office ....

[@screamstation]

@@hannahb950 That’s what I am saying. They will be using all avenues to increase their wealth anyway. (most of them are politicians for that reason alone) Why rewarding them even more…

[@kassistwisted]

They need to be barred from accepting money from any source other than their government salaries. All else is corruption. You cannot allow an MP to financially profit privately and reasonably expect him not to vote in his own financial interest. But as it is the MPs who would vote on any law limiting their private income, it will never happen. Reform needs to be forced on the MPs without them having a vote in the matter. If you don't like surviving "solely" on your MP salary, don't run for office next election.

[@neilhawkes880]

An MP salary should be fixed at twice that of a registered nurse. This would instantly make it possible, nay imperative, to pay nurses properly. The arguments for paying MPs properly apply to every other case as well, which is often missed by folk inside the bubble….

[@GaryDoyle-bq2vd]

Another excellent show.

[@djohnston6856]

How about means testing MP pay? Have a sliding scale. We could increase the pay but have it reduced according to any other income (importantly including income from assets and investments). Anyone who solely works as an mp gets the full amount, and anyone earning above a threshold from other work gets nothing. With pay tapering in-between.

[@davidpinfold852]

The trouble with NHS is it's too bureaucratic, there's too much management getting paid for adding very little value.

[@dominicbritt]

I disagree - current layers NHS Management (led by the Political structure of NHS England) have their own agenda that is not patient safety, treatment or access to services. They often work against medical teams objectives. The admin layers need to be restructured to make NHS Trusts more answerable to the public and health outcomes - the Health and Social Care Act of 2013 sabotaged the entire NHS by changing priorities...

[@Stuffthatsfunny1]

And a lot of duplicated jobs and old machines making everything very inefficient. This also means too many people employed in admin roles.

[@noobling8313]

This just isn't backed up by the numbers. Maybe it was once true, but it hasn't been for years. We have the most minimally managed and one of the least efficient public health services. There is a link there. Actual managers are required, not doctors moonlighting as administrators.

[@ejc636]

Teachers have no set working hours. No paid overtime etc. the reason i went to work overseas where the labour laws are more strict

[@TheDarkhorse1947]

Dont pay them anymore. Abolish expenses. Its about time they learned about real life. They expect me to live on £ 13000. I`m 77 and still go out to work to make ends meet to avoid groveling to benefit office.

[@John-Dennehy]

And what happens when the only people that can afford to become an MP are those that have "alternative" avenues of income, and/or are even further out of touch with the real lives of the average people?

[@e_m_met]

@@John-Dennehy You make a fair point if their salaries were cut but the current salary is FAR from needing "alternative" avenues of income.

[@terry9819]

@@John-Dennehy If they can't manage on more than twice the national average salary then why would they be any good at being an MP?

[@choppernick]

Not sure abolishing claims for expenses is the answer. Normal people have legitimate business expenses...they're just not trying to claim back £3000 in gardening costs for a second home.

[@TheDarkhorse1947]

@@choppernick Why ?? I travel to work, nobody pays my fuel. Why should I pay thru my taxes an mp`s fuel.

[@bigdoor64]

The most common complaints about upward built housing is the restriction of the leasehold COMBINED with the poor documentation. No information on noise isolation, no commitment to leasehold pricing, horrible restrictions on modifications. Architects are required to create compromising solutions that allow more feeling of ownership whilst modestly improving density.

[@tbrooke3016]

In the north it feels like most school kids knew who the PM was when i was going though school (3-4 years ago) but we all feel royally screwed by the tories. Young people are exceedingly liberal and all our parents were swept up in brexit and plenty of us were arguing with them about it

[@patrickfrost7488]

For the Y2K bug, I think a lot of people aren't aware that it didn't affect Linux/unix systems which are mostly the responsible for the "important" stuff. I'm much more worried about the Y2038 problem which does.

[@robinsanders5541]

I would welcome a 100k a year salary for all MPs. However, no second jobs, consultancies or any form of moonlighting should be permitted. I’m willing to permit the writing of books on the grounds that it may exercise their literary muscle and improve the eloquence of debate.

[@rosey_ie]

Thanks you gents 🙌🏻

[@The...0_0...]

Thanks interesting about free ports

[@sacredgeometry]

I am happy for them to be paid more if they were less shit at their job. Currently we aren't getting much at all for the money.

[@garethjones9605]

And therein lies the argument for paying them more; to attract a higher quality of candidate.....

[@sacredgeometry]

@@garethjones9605 My argument is that the quality seems to be getting worse the more we pay them.

[@sunseeker9581]

​​​​@@garethjones9605 money normally that attracts worse candidates. Just look at Rishi and the rest of the eton brigade elected. Look how bad it is in America. Parliament needs educated working class union tied MPs

[@andytc4840]

@@sunseeker9581 bad example. Rishi Sunak doesn't need the money, in fact he'd be earning WAY more in the private sector (or could just live off his and his wife's wealth). The Eton brigade do it for the power, not the money.

[@interloper8029]

To be fair, 30% of Tory MPs don't seem aware who the prime minister is...

[@brianmacadam4793]

Politicians should NOT get more money, they in fact should have their entire financial information published.

[@sandyreid8146]

Freeports are a version of what happened in 1991 Russia.

[@mountaindewmartin7204]

They’re not

[@alanrobertson3172]

Love ❤the jumper 😂

[@phueal]

I'm a Lib Dem and agree strongly with your analysis of our woes. Part of this is a leadership problem: we haven't had a charismatic leader who could clearly articulate our vision since Nick Clegg, and because of the cloud under which he left nobody feels ready to pick up that particular baton. Nick gave a stunning defence of the importance of Liberalism after the 2015 election when he stood down, and obviously we were unabashedly pro-EU during the Brexit referendum campaign, but those were the last times I've heard a passionate or coherent national vision from our leaders. I think they're trying to rebuild with local campaigns, hopefully winning half a dozen additional seats each general election, like they did pre-1997, until we're finally in a position to influence things again. But it does leave us with no national voice, and no unifying ideology articulated. *Cut-down extracts from Nick Clegg's resignation speech:* "One thing seems to me is clear: liberalism, here, as well as across Europe, is not faring well against the politics of fear. "Years of remorseless economic and social hardship following the crash in 2008 and the grinding insecurities of globalisation have led for people to reach to new certainties: the politics of identity, of nationalism, of us versus them is now on the rise. "... grievance and fear combine to drive our different communities apart. "I hope that our leaders across the United Kingdom realise the disastrous consequences for our way of life and the integrity of our United Kingdom if they continue to appeal to grievance rather than generosity and fear rather than hope. ... The cruellest irony of all is that it is exactly at this time that British liberalism, that fine, noble tradition that believes we are stronger together and weaker apart is needed more than ever before. "Fear and grievance have won, liberalism has lost. But it is more precious than ever and we must keep fighting for it."

[@redemptivepete]

Nick Clegg charismatic? The rejection of Labour in 2010 was clear and if the third party is to have relevance they had to go into coalition with the Tories. They just didn't have to enjoy austerity so much! Clegg floated a policy that Grandparents should have a right of access to grandchildren. In later life my parents (now deceased) were violently racist literally wanting Hitler here for a few years! Deliberately playing the World at War holocaust episode to my son aged 11 and arguing it would be justifiable here. Posting BNP leaflets to them etc. I'd have been jailed rather than allowed them further access however my point is that the Government has no right to interfere in areas of that sort. It's just about the most illiberal thing I've ever heard of and put me off our orange friends for life! Anyone know if that's still a Libdem policy?

[@phueal]

@@redemptivepete I wasn’t talking about policy, or our record in the coalition, I was talking about charisma and communication. I despise the policies of Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage, George W. Bush, and more but they are all charismatic and very good communicators. So are some of the people I’m more sympathetic to like Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Justin Trudeau, and so on. Nick Clegg was no Barack Obama but he was still a good communicator, especially when compared to other Lib Dems. Regardless of whether you approve of our policies or our political history, my point was simply that we don’t currently have any prominent Lib Dems who are able to hold the audience’s attention, let alone articulate our vision and ideology in a compelling way.

[@redemptivepete]

To be fair to Libdems it's tricky to get much publicity and I agree about lack of charisma. Do you know the answer to my earlier question? I will be voting anti Conservative which in my current constituency doesn't involve the Libdems but I hope that you can understand my difficulty with your party?

[@phueal]

@@redemptivepete I'm afraid I don't know the answer to your question - most minor policies aren't clarified outside of manifestos, and the last manifesto was in 2019. I searched the document for "grandparent" and it didn't appear once, so I'm guessing grandparental visitation rights wasn't a policy anymore by 2019. I'll point out though that every party has policies you'll disagree with, none are perfect. I don't like the Lib Dem's NIMBYism (or pensions), nor do I like Labour's stance on the EU (or pensions), the Greens' stance on nuclear power (or pensions), etc., and obviously I disagree with almost everything the Tories stand for at the moment (including pensions). If you want to be part of a party, and obviously it's valid not to, then you need to find the one whom you agree most with, acknowledging that it won't be agreeing on everything.

[@philipsmith1990]

Of course you can't believe that the Millennium bug was a real problem because you don't know enough about computers and in particular computer languages. I retired quite shortly after the millennium but my company like many others had major software systems on which the operation of the comapny was critically dependent that dated from as long ago as the '60s. There can be no doubt that had those systems not been updated it would have stopped the company's operations dead. The company spent nearly £100 million updating those systems. One might ask why those systems had not been updated long before. Updating old computer systems is expensive and fraught with risk partly because experts in 30 or 40 year old computer languages and systems are few, many being long retired if not dead. 'If it ain't broke don't fix it' is a maxim that applies in spades. A company does not spend that sort of money on a whim. It was precisely because many of such systems belonged to companies who rightly understood that they had to spend whatever it cost to protect their company from disaster that the vast majority of the potential problems were avoided.

[@dominicbritt]

Freeports are an enormous Tax and Regulation dodge. What generally happens is that these Zones drag investment FROM other areas. They allow companies to avoid Taxation, Environmental regulations and Employment Law... which reduces tav revenue for public services. Shenzhen zone is China allows companies to make employees work 12 hour days, 7 days a week. Question - what is the benefit of this to British Citizens?

[@veeday1146]

In my Swindon days the railway, car manufacturing town was safe Labour. It was Labour who as well as building hundreds of homes to house London’s overspill also oversaw the building of high quality houses for private sale to free up some council housing, a much better idea than Thatchers ruinous policy. The voters’ switch to Conservative former nightclub owners and dodgy business outsiders set them on a course of Swindon plummeting the depths in desirability and reputation. Thank god I left before the rot began, never to return. Tomlinsons treatment of Rory would be no surprise to his former wife of four years. Like many of the Boris loving Tories, integrity and honesty are not part of their gene pool.

[@khyron8509]

I would love to see schools teaching our young people about our political system and how it works including a bit of history involving the MP's that have helped shape said system.

[@CMLi-qh2mz]

Graphic designer and comic book artist here. I think the point about "arts feature more prominently in school curriculums", there's a huge lack of details in there. It's like asking "do you think people should fund more for student to know more about Economic" (Which i think it's more important, the lack of basic Economic understanding is shockingly poor in the U.K. compared to Hong Kong, where I'm from) the answer is of course yes. "Should we know more about geo-politcs?" Yes "Should we invest more in better road?" Yes "Should we preserve old architectures?" Yes The real question should be "how". Art wise really depends how you define "arts". life drawing, understanding the beauty of human body, yes. Modern art, no thanks. So what do we mean by "arts feature more prominently in school curriculums"?

[@FredTheLard]

It's not so much 'how much you are paid', it's 'how much you are paid compared to'. If everyone got paid a million then a million would be entry level. We need an open discussion on how much a Dr / Nurse / Taxi driver / soldier / MP is paid, as it's the relative pay that indicates their value to society. And people at the lower end of the pay spectrum still need to be able to get by without the need for govt support.

[@rsfaeges5298]

On a tour in Australia, Guide told us about the PM visiting a nursing home. He asked one of the residents if she knew who he was. She told him that she didn't, but that Matron would know.

[@DoriZuza]

If it’s any consolation, I also don’t keep track of who the prime minister is. I live in an EU country.

[@sylviawillmot4365]

The danger being Leaseholds would be rife, denying people protection from corrupt leaseholders.

[@TheVoluntariast]

NO. They should not be paid at all. In fact the government should be disbanded.

[@jmw-qt2ih]

If you listen to politicians their main concern was to serve their country and constituents with money not being their main concern although the 2009 expenses scandal would certainly contradict this.

[@zkat_masquerave]

I saw a survey a few months ago which reported 3% of British people had "never heard of" the US and Russia

[@timghilks7666]

If M.P.s were paid the average UK wage then they would have an incentive to actually raise it and level up. 91K puts them in the top 1%, way above the majority . and don't even start with the quality of applicants ( Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson )

[@MagicBrianTricks]

Yes, 100%. MPs should be paid a lot more. This not only widens the pool of potential candidates but also helps combat any MPs abusing their power for monetary gain.

[@allanwinter4991]

The government has not been ripped off in Teesside we the people of Teesside have. Mayor Houchen and his buddies coining it in.

[@michaelmcqueen4514]

No They Shouldnt be Paid More

[@richardoldfield6714]

No, politicians should not be paid more (their salaries are already generous by the standards of the vast majority of British citizens). Indeed, MPs should be barred from earning any additional money from outside work whilst in office, since being an MP (and even more so a government minister) should be their full-time focus and occupation. The fact that some MPs do earn outside money (in some cases lots of it) is one contributing factor - inflaming suspicions of corruption, lack of commitment etc - in the ongoing decline of faith in democracy.

[@tonywilcock6334]

Payment by results .The present government would owe us !

[@philgalpin9284]

'Singapore on Thames (etc)' beckons!

[@f1remandg]

One last thing, think about this one thing, we vote in a party and they are voted in to represent their area and so those who vote in their MP loose their representation and if you relate that to a company National company, they put the right people in the right role in the right area or region and not take however many off the assembly line or out of the department! Remember what you said Rory where did Cameron put you? Joy where your talents lay!

[@christopherhutchinson6101]

I believe that many younger people are the ones that do not know PM or major department MP's are and opposition MP's are, and even worse they do not want to know???

[@f1remandg]

I will also add that I have read your book Rory and found it very in testing and quite inspiring, what aren’t we building good quality buildings and flooding and so much more that yet again we continue to get wrong , how about gardens in the sky other countries do it, using underground to communicate and commute, we used to have cellars and now with all the building standards and thermal products, yet we have substandard housing that I can’t see them being there in 150 years like the properties built in the 1880s were a knackered falling apart country and Alister’s comment is true some people like Brexit walked into it due to poor government, where was the proper advice and the government who knew that it was a disaster for both, just didn’t call out the Moggs and Johnson’s and others that were just scar3 mongering to the younger end and giving in to the stupid OAPs!

[@margaretdundas680]

Hi guys 👦 ❤ from Scotland 😅

[@idio-syncrasy]

The soviet block model for housing. 👍

[@user-xl6bk2gd3f]

Can you include social care in your cross party commission Rory? Also the outputs of the first stage should be fed into a citizens' assembly to get more debate before a final tidying up by politicians.

[@UOFelucca]

What politicians get paid is disgusting.

[@dinty66]

ground rents toward the Crown were abolished bck within our own Republic back about 47 years agon ?

[@Thirteen31Music]

Their pay should be subject to the same freezes they impose on the civil service/public sector workers.

[@roseannemain9957]

100% absolutely not. I would rather a sealing on the max they could have. No more than twice the average pay. I would also prefer a ballot system for MPs to be selected to serve for a max 3 year period which would be a civic duty.

[@skygod1067]

I’d be happy for politicians to be paid £150,000+ as long as it was their only employment 365 and they developed a moral compass

[@itsmyview2024]

payment based on effort made not an annual amount, value for money is important. What is the REAL total package including all the expnses, allowances and pension? That is what the judgement on which reward should be based.

[@A-Gordon-Brown-Stan-Account]

Them getting paid more is one of the many reasons my generation can't afford kids.

[@user-ti9xb2ng7s]

Perhaps key workers could get £91K a year and help with housing costs and MP's could earn £60K a year because they keep bringing this figure out every time train drivers go on strike, they seem to think this is a enough to live on

[@jibjobjobe]

No, No and NO!!!!!!!!!!

[@martinvalentine9228]

No, they should be paid less. And they should not be allowed to claim expenses other than travel to London for gov business. I would love someone to argue that if we paid more we would get better quality while we have a shitty unelected prime minister who's salary is insignificant to his financial position.

[@scottishmadlad8772]

No.

[@zak3744]

At the crux of the thinking about MP's "pay" is that being an MP is not a job. It's a civic responsibility, like jury duty, say (the fact that you have to volunteer to do one and not the other doesn't change the principle of the role). So when we are talking about "pay" we should be thinking of "pay" in the sense of an allowance provided to be able to fulfil the role, not "pay" in terms of a salary that is earned. Which means that when thinking of the level that makes sense, comparisons with _wages_ that people might be able to earn should be utterly, utterly irrelevant. We should be thinking in terms of what is a reasonable living allowance to enable anyone to be able to fulfil that role. Like allowances for jury duty or living allowances for students or whatever. Which isn't to say whether the amount for MPs should be lower, higher or about the same as currently. But that should be the type of thinking that helps us work out what is a reasonable number. We certainly shouldn't be humouring anyone who tries to frame in in terms of being an MP as equivalent to a job, and being a politician as a "career". It's not, it's a civic responsibility, one of the most important in our democracy!

[@neighbourhoodmusician]

Politicians' pay should be linked to the population's average salary. That would give them a real incentive to make sure that people earn more overall.

[@Czechbound]

Building up is one of the 2 key ways to stop more sprawl (the other being reforming the tax code to incentivise landlords to sell up). Here in Prague, most people live in Communist built 4 or 8 storey blocks. Even in small towns, they retain the medieval town square etc, and then out of sight of the historic centre, there are the housing blocks. Thr fixation in Britain (and Ireland) with having a garden is kind of weird. Here the parks are well used, with good cycle paths, children's playgrounds, workout areas etc. And if course tennis courts, which are everywhere here.

[@ashnur]

I find it very funny how shocked Alastair is about people not being aware. And even before hearing I heard I thought he will go to compulsory voting. Never heard of Goodhart's law.

[@herme99]

I would *love* to know how the NHS budget is spent, right down to the cost of non medical staff per hospital. (Personally, would not touch Revolut)

[@GQ-df2li]

The HSE in Ireland was a huge hack.

[@nicolaablett7790]

If and when they are honest have morals and ethics

[@TheMighty_T]

It is essential to stop corruption that our law makers and politicians earn enough, but this should only happen with the most robust penalties and standards of conduct inplace and enforceable. No second jobs, no opportunities whe in public office to receive kick-backs and "cash for questions". This is if we want functional democracy.

[@TesterAnimal1]

For fucks only sake guys! The Y2K bug was a fucking bug. I worked lots of overtime to fix the system I was working on. Do not drone on about things you know absolutely NOTHING about.

[@dreamcrusher112]

If everyone moves into 5-7 storey buildings, where do all the government mandated electric cars and their chargers go? Do people not deserve more than 2 rooms if they can't afford a soon to be muchg more expensive single-occupancy building? Terraces would probably double the number of houses when compared to the cookie-cutter detached houses you see in new estates.

[@wanglord9591]

You guys should think about doing a video on the pros and cons of compulsory voting. I personally like the idea and think it'd be a net positive, but I'd appreciate a couple of big-brained boys educating me on why it's not quite as idealic as I think it would be.

[@defenestration8841]

Provocative title much ?

[@philipgardner-uz5ne]

No,,detached from the voters

[@lkyuvsad]

I know a lot of engineers who worked on y2k. It really was a thing, and critical problems genuinely were avoided. The percentage of issues we missed did cause problems as Rory imagines they would have done, just not planes falling out of the sky or banks crashing, because critical industries invested most. Ironically, a bunch of serious problems were also caused by patches intended to fix the problem. Wikipedia "year 2000 problem" for a few examples.

[@philipcrossley1279]

How can an MP earn a six figure salary and still be in touch with the issues concerning workers earning minimum wage and/or a zero hours contract? MPs pensions should be pro-rata with the length of time they successfully served, and be based on their own personal contributions, like everyone else.

[@davecap2641]

For sure if you are being paid 100,000 to be an MP that should be your ONLY job. In the real world if you do not like the pay on offer you look for something else. Maybe then we will have the right people in government.

[@rafaelmartinvannostrand2084]

People saying politicians should not get pay more ... but how you expect competent people to join politics if they can earn more money in private companies? Just because they have a great will of helping people? A mid management in any company that is doing fairly well makes the same money as an MP, how does that make any sense?