Ian Swanson: It's time to make MPs with second jobs pay

Published on Thursday 16 July 2009 09:54

LONDON Mayor Boris Johnson dismisses the £250,000 he gets for his newspaper column as "chicken feed" while Scottish MP Jimmy Hood happily takes £625 a month as a consultant to Scottish Coal despite claiming the time he spends on the role is "nil".

Given the public anger about politicians and cash in the wake of the expenses scandals, one might have expected a slightly more subtle approach from these two seasoned operators.

But their bluntness on the matter of their second jobs exposes just how out of touch with real life so many politicians seem to be.

Millionaire Old Etonian Mr Johnson – who is paid around 140,000 as Mayor - may not regard 250,000 as a huge sum. But most people – not least those struggling to survive on low wages or worried about losing their jobs – would think of it as a fortune.

The former Tory MP also argues it is "wholly reasonable" for him to do his columns for the Daily Telegraph on the side because he writes them "very fast".

Meanwhile, Mr Hood was perhaps trying to reassure his constituents he devotes all his time to serving their interests when he declared in the official register that his other role as parliamentary consultant to Scottish Coal took up "nil" hours

But most people will wonder why he was paid 625 – the latest instalment of his 7,500-a-year retainer – for doing nothing.

From the start of this month, MPs are required to reveal how much money they receive from second jobs. But unlike the botched publication of Commons expenses, there has been no sudden "full disclosure" of all MPs' outside "earnings" because although the register of interests is updated every couple of weeks, they are only obliged to declare the cash once they have received it.

And several MPs have given up their second – and perhaps third, fourth and more – jobs before the new rules came in, presumably because they realised how bad it looks for politicians to be raking in thousands of pounds on top of their 64,766 a year backbencher's salary.

But there are still those who defend MPs having what they prefer to call "outside interests", arguing that it's not healthy for elected representatives to be career politicians and that having another job alongside their role as MP helps root them in the real world.

But strangely, the jobs they choose are not usually cleaning hospitals, driving buses, teaching youngsters or working in a factory.

And it's not clear how they think directorships of defence companies or running their own business consultancies helps them stay more in touch with the everyday concerns of their constituents.

The Senior Salaries Review Body is said to be ready to look at reducing the Commons pay of politicians with lucrative second jobs by up to two-thirds to take account of their outside earnings.

It acknowledges there is an argument that someone who does not work full-time as an MP because of other paid activities should not receive the full salary.

Such a move might prove an effective deterrent if an outright ban on second incomes is seen as unworkable or too Draconian.

But, as with expenses, the problem seems to be with the culture which has grown up at Westminster.

While to members of the public it might seem greedy and grasping for politicians to cash in on their status to "earn" more cash on the side, the Commons traces its traditions back to the days when MPs would spend their mornings at business before rolling up to serve as elected representatives in the afternoon.

There's no ban on members of the Scottish Parliament having second jobs – although it's definitely frowned upon if it goes much beyond penning a newspaper column.

Former Labour MSP Gordon Jackson QC regularly came under fire for spending too much time in court, where he was said to earn 1,500 a day, and being given the nickname Crackerjack because he used to turn up at parliament at five to five, just in time for the 5pm decision time votes on the day's business.

At the height of the expenses scandal, Gordon Brown said the House of Commons could no longer be run like a gentleman's club. If anything, that is even more true when it comes to the question of second jobs.

Representing the people and making laws for the country should be a full-time role in anyone's book.