I was saddened to read in the Sunday Times (13 December 2020) that Sarah Dines, the newly elected Conservative MP for Derbyshire Dales, has been embroiled in yet another scandal involving MPs expenses. Those occupying positions of public office should accept that the role confers both responsibilities as well as privileges.   MPs have, for years, demonstrated that they do not understand this, as was exemplified by the expenses scandal. For many MPs the default button seems to be set on how best to exploit a situation in order to maximise the upmost financial benefit for themselves.

The annual income in the UK for 2019 was £30,420; MPs were paid £79,468 + expenses. (An MPs salary in 2020 is £81,932 + expenses). An MP is paid nearly three times the average wage.  MPs can, additionally, earn salaries for work undertaken away from Westminster.  Sarah Dines has, in addition to her salary as an MP, taken home £65,000 in payments for work as a family barrister at 3BP Chambers, whose website says she has a “reputation for being thorough,” leaving no stone unturned “.   

These observations aren’t prompted by financial envy, rather they are to highlight concerns about the increasing gulf that has arisen between the population at large & the MPs who have been elected to represent them.  There have been many instances over the past months where MPs have demonstrated that they are out of touch with the everyday lives & challenges of the people they have been elected to serve.  This should not come as a surprise to us.  MPs have created a position of financial security for themselves wherein they are untouched by the economic policies they have promulgated. Can it be right that an MP, who is paid three times the national average salary, should be able to undertake paid work outside of Westminster?  Shouldn’t an MP’s sole focus be on the needs of the constituents that he or she was elected to serve?  And, whilst it may be necessary for an MP to book into a hotel, need it be a 4* hotel?  Ms Dines hotel bill between January – March cost the taxpayer £2,800. She could have, as an alternative to the Park Plaza Hotel on Westminster Bridge, booked into the Travel Lodge at Waterloo, & been given a superior room + breakfast for £60.24, thus saving us all a great deal of money. 

The coming year, whatever the outcomes of the Brexit negotiations, will see many families suffering increased economic hardships. MPs need to demonstrate their understanding of, and empathy with, their constituents.  They need to show some character & to identify with the people they have been elected to represent.  Given that Boris Johnson has stated that he finds it difficult to manage on his salary of £165,000 p.a. I think that it is unlikely to happen.

Yours sincerely

Ed Runham