MPs with second jobs are second rate

It is assumed that being a British Member of Parliament is a full time job. One of the reforms being discussed is to regulate and discourage MPs from moonlighting and doing work on the side.

Constituency work, parliamentary business and party roles should add up to enough that an MP is delighted to find a weekend off in between the extra voluntary yet obligatory activities like leafleting and event-attending (less fun than you might think!).

With a salary of about £60,000 and an expenses account on top of that, money should not really be an issue; after all, people don’t go into politics for the money, do they? A significant amount of the Tory party, let alone the Shadow Cabinet, are already millionaires (Osborne!), so there can be no financial necessity like for that of a student who has to spend their weekends working in a café just to be able to survive.

However, if they pay the proper taxes, they should be able to spend their free time as they wish. A particularly energetic MP who can get through all the casework, visit the local university club and turn up to vote whenever required has the right to spend the time left over working elsewhere. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, but being a dull boy can be quite an advantage in Parliament (Again, Osborne!)

The main argument for keeping second jobs is that it gets politicians to connect with the public, and it gives them some knowledge of “a proper job” and how the world works beyond the Westminster bubble made up increasingly of young career politicians coming straight out of Oxbridge.

It’s a compelling point, were it not for the fact that most (though not all) MPs with second jobs are Tories with directorships and consultancies. Don’t expect your MP to knock on the door with a sponge offering to give your car a wash. This is not restricted to Parliament either; the Mayor of London is regularly under fire for the very expensive articles he writes for the Telegraph each week.

Technically, if being an MP is considered a full time job, then being a minister is a second job on top of it. In practice, a minister is required to spend less time doing backbencher activities like committees and Westminster Hall debates. In principle, if second jobs are prohibited, then it follows logically that when an MP is chosen to become a Minister he will have to step down and trigger a by-election.

This leads us to my next post about “unelected” ministers, and how the situation is a lot worse in French politics!