f0rd Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Did Ed Milliband ever publish the list of names at the dinner with lobbyist Roland Rudd? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anywebsite Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Did Ed Milliband ever publish the list of names at the dinner with lobbyist Roland Rudd? Does anybody really care? You're not going to score party political points off this, corruption happens & it doesn't matter who's in charge. We should be trying to find a solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f0rd Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Does anybody really care? You're not going to score party political points off this, corruption happens & it doesn't matter who's in charge. We should be trying to find a solution. Seriously? Me trying to score political points for the Tories... come off it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 All very transparent then. Obviously Peter Cruddas tries to squeeze a bit more from them, but that's salesmen for you, and the customers choice if they want to pay it. The ultimate in Capitalism...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 If we had taxpayer funded political parties & banned all political donations then it'd make it easier to catch corrupt politicians. There are problems with the idea, but I like it more than selling laws & government contracts to fund politicians & their parties. Ban politicians from having jobs elsewhere while they're supposed to be representing us in parliament too. Stop the second homes thing & put them all in flats near Westminster. Have 'none of the above' on the ballot paper for when all the candidates are known to be corrupt, so we can still vote. I don't think we can ever beat the problem of corrupt politicians, but there are a few things that we could do to make it a bit harder for them. A new party would probably end up just as corrupt as all the old ones, we need to change the rules instead. It'll probably mean that we need to spend a lot more money "keeping them straight", but it should more than pay for itself in having less corruption. As other posters have said, you don't pay £250,000 just to have a friendly chat about the weather with the Prime Minister, you're going to be wanting a big government contract, or a change to a law that benefits your business. Each one of those chats will cost taxpayers a few million at least. I certainly think we ought to lay down a few rules, and police them to make sure they are adhered to. I like the 'non of the above' on ballot papers idea. That could be a starting point, and getting too many of these votes could trigger all sorts of investigations. I also like the idea of them living in publicly funded flats (preferably where the lifts breakdown and people pee in the stairwells - but that's just me being mean...) I disagree on the outside jobs. I think all politicians should spend 2 months a year doing a bog standard job in the public sector - nursing auxillary, policeman, teaching, social work etc. not working for a bank. That way they might see the problems from the bottom up. Expenses should be at a basic rate, ie for economy class public transport, not first class. If they want to upgrade they can pay for it out of their own pocket, but they might actually get to talk to some ordinary people and learn something... There should be no pay off when they're voted out, and their pensions should be in line with the average person's pension. I'm sure people will have further ideas. I think the trouble is they have such a sense of entitlement of which they are not worthy. They haven't just lost touch with ordinary people, they never were in touch in the first place. From Public school to Oxbridge, to a safe seat; a circle of friends with exactly the same lifestyle and experiences, they've probably never had a conversation with an ordinary mortal that wasn't set up and stage managed. It's all part of the British class system which never went away in certain areas like Politics and Law. I'd also like to see women making up 50% of Parliament. They'd at least get rid of the old boys club and shake things up a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anywebsite Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 If their outside jobs were bottom-level public sector jobs I'd be in favour of it. They could do it during their summer holidays. They could do it unpaid, it'd help their prospects for getting a proper job when they're voted out. It'd be truly valuable experience & be something less embarrassing to put on their CV. If they're highly paid "consultancy roles" for companies that rely on government money - that's what I want to stop. Australia already has a block of flats outside parliament for their politicians, why do we have to buy ours second homes that they can keep? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 If their outside jobs were bottom-level public sector jobs I'd be in favour of it. They could do it during their summer holidays. They could do it unpaid, it'd help their prospects for getting a proper job when they're voted out. It'd be truly valuable experience & be something less embarrassing to put on their CV. If they're highly paid "consultancy roles" for companies that rely on government money - that's what I want to stop. Australia already has a block of flats outside parliament for their politicians, why do we have to buy ours second homes that they can keep? Brilliant : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I certainly think we ought to lay down a few rules, and police them to make sure they are adhered to. I like the 'non of the above' on ballot papers idea. That could be a starting point, and getting too many of these votes could trigger all sorts of investigations. I also like the idea of them living in publicly funded flats (preferably where the lifts breakdown and people pee in the stairwells - but that's just me being mean...) I disagree on the outside jobs. I think all politicians should spend 2 months a year doing a bog standard job in the public sector - nursing auxillary, policeman, teaching, social work etc. not working for a bank. That way they might see the problems from the bottom up. Expenses should be at a basic rate, ie for economy class public transport, not first class. If they want to upgrade they can pay for it out of their own pocket, but they might actually get to talk to some ordinary people and learn something... There should be no pay off when they're voted out, and their pensions should be in line with the average person's pension. I'm sure people will have further ideas. I think the trouble is they have such a sense of entitlement of which they are not worthy. They haven't just lost touch with ordinary people, they never were in touch in the first place. From Public school to Oxbridge, to a safe seat; a circle of friends with exactly the same lifestyle and experiences, they've probably never had a conversation with an ordinary mortal that wasn't set up and stage managed. It's all part of the British class system which never went away in certain areas like Politics and Law. I'd also like to see women making up 50% of Parliament. They'd at least get rid of the old boys club and shake things up a bit. Rather than laying the blame at the door of politicians, it would be much more effective to educate the masses who vote for them and then blame them for things that they don't understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anywebsite Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 You're already too late to stop public funding of political parties... http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/party-finance/public_funding Now we just need to ban private funding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magilla Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 It seems that having money really does buy you influence. Has there been a time when it hasn't? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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