My first job was as a Graduate Intern (Shopkeeper/Volunteer Manager) selling charity Christmas cards in a freezing cold church porch in the City. At this point in time I was living in central Camden (behind the World's End) avec students, mice and resident drug dealers, who spent far too much of their time sitting on our doorstep. The job was fun at times, and massively demoralising at others, and obviously incredibly badly paid. However, I did get free coffee every morning and a free vegetarian friendly lunch on a Friday afternoon from one of the best vegetarian (now merely veggie-friendly) cafes in London Town. (http://www.cafebelow.co.uk/index.htm) I also got to spend a lot of time chatting to some very interesting people. My personal favourites were the couple in their 80s, who described in some detail their recent holiday, not to the Lake District or the Dordogne as one might expect, but camping in the deserts of Libya. Certainly not for the faint-hearted.
The next part of the story includes brief unemployment and a consequential diet of cereal and satsumas (to ward off scurvy, obv), whilst living in a beautiful pink Georgian house in Chalk Farm. I then spent 6 weeks working as a PA to a Consultant at UCL Hospital and I now know far more than I will ever need to know about endocrinology (that's hormones and thyroids to you!) Whilst at UCLH, I applied for a few jobs more relevant to my degree; one of which being the job I have been in for the past 8 months, Parliamentary Assistant to an MP.
I started work at the House of Commons just before the Telegraph released their series of front-page expenses stories, so I have seen the explosion and the fallout these revelations have caused. My opinion on the saga has inevitably been shaped by the experience of my boss, the emails and reactions from other MPs (some angry, others upset, a few sanctimonious) and the enraged outcry from the general public and I will keep my contribution to the debate brief, as I know it has been talked to death.
Firstly, the expenses system, in my opinion, was innately flawed and abused. Public money should never have been handed out as easily as it was and proper checks should have been in place to ensure that only rightful claims could be made (and by 'rightful' I mean travel, subsistence, childcare for women and second homes for those whose constituencies are outside London, rather than TVs, dishwashers and, most ridiculously of all, moat cleaning).
I do not believe that it is anyone's 'right' to claim for gardening, housekeeping and maintenance. Whether you have a cleaner or not is a lifestyle choice, which should be based on your cashflow. I do not buy into the 'I don't have time to clean my house' epitaph. If you don't have time, pay for a cleaner, but don't take money from the British taxpayer to do it.
However, it does pose a further question relating to MPs' salaries. Personally, I do not think that £60,000 is an appropriate wage for a person working 6 days a week and often 16 hours a day scrutinising legislation, representing constituents and ensuring the smooth running of the country. Now, I know there are certain MPs who work less than 6 days a week, do not represent their constituents and are far from aiding the running of the country. The system allows MPs (particularly those in the backbenches) a certain amount of rope based on their electoral legitimacy....and some MPs have chosen to hang themselves with it.
Perhaps there should be a payscale for MPs dependent on their achievements and judged by their constituents. For those who go out of their way to visit constituents Friday-Sunday and show their worth in terms of chamber time and responding to constituents Monday-Thursday, a decent wage will be paid, which will allow for a gardener/cleaner/moat maintenance guy outside of their parliamentary expenses. For those lazy characters who spend their days asleep on the green chairs and the weekends out kicking back on the yacht, a separate payscale could be enacted to give them a kick up the backside. There are few jobs in the world where your pay is not directly related to your talent, skills and hardwork. There is no reason why being an MP should be one of them.
