A solution to the ignorance of (white, male) politician

Theresa May is paid[1] £150,000 thousand a year. The basic annual salary[2] for an MP is £75,000. It’s true that British Politics is in a perpetual state of irony, but in this area particularly so. These MPs’ jobs are to be ‘raising issues affecting their constituents’ according to parliament.uk, and voting on new laws. That’s a lot of money, being taken straight from the taxpayer they’re so eagerly defending, for the odd chip in at a debate.

This inflated wage for an already rather attractive job is unnecessary- it illustrates how powerful monetary incentives are. Working in the Westminster, representing your own people, having been voted in, is an ego boost enough, but clearly an equally large price-tag has to follow. Even members in the parliament have admitted to there being a ‘Westminster bubble’[3], so clearly something has to change.

That change should be their wage. The problem is that such a large payment makes these people out of touch with reality, which is no news to anybody. They live in an entirely different financial atmosphere to most and thus can afford luxuries that the majority can only dream of. This is not the point of being a politician; putting you further away from the people you represent, because right now we need all the relatability we can muster. We all know it’s a time of social insecurity, with a minority government battling for Brexit, so what we really need a strong and stable government who will do what’s best for the people. Here’s a snapshot of the key figures in said government:

Can you name them all? I see, it is a bit tricky isn’t it. They all look the same. Pale, unemotional constructions of cells claiming to represent the nation’s desires. Unfortunately, you may have noticed from the sample selection of the Tory Party that I took, that actually they’re all middle aged white men. What about Theresa May, you cry? Look at her. She looks like a man. She speaks in low husky tones. She carries on even when she’s ill and should just admit she needs a break (and not get some grimy cough sweet on live TV). It’s safe to say there’s practically no difference at this point. So, unfortunately, it seems that navigating the once revered and respected Britain are a group of people who actually look nothing like the rest of their country. Firstly, due to their skin colour, they will never have suffered any institutional racism, since they themselves have unwittingly benefitted from it at other peoples’ loss. This makes discussions about racial quotas, struggles on a daily basis for ethnic minorities (etc.) pointless because they will never truly understand what they’re fighting for.

Of course, they’ll regurgitate politically correct sounding phrases and feign awareness at debates, but how can they fight for something they don’t understand? The same goes for poverty. Improving lives of working single-mothers, those juggling two jobs on the minimum wage or living in council housing are much more difficult when nobody in charge knows what these people actually need. How can any politician dare to dream of talking about the issues facing their constituents when they’re so far removed from them? There’s no compassion and there’s no real understanding either. These are people who have always lived in privilege (bar very few such as Sadiq Khan) and will always live in privilege. They have no contact with the people they’re appealing to, and don’t understand that they don’t want the lower university fees they’re offering. The most vulnerable in society just want a stable job- they just want to have a job in the first place: a degree won’t buy them dinner, a new jumper, a train ticket, if they need it now.

So, the salary of an MP should be changed to the median wage: then they can see how the majority of people live. They would be paid that year’s median wage for Inner London, which in 2014 was £34,473.[4] The reason for this and not the average wage of the entire UK is that London is an incredibly expensive place to live. But we must remember that MPs don’t have to pay for lunches, nor does a certain MP have to even pay for housing, so in the end when all the numbers add up it seems like if the rest of London can live on that wage, then our politicians can too. Granted, it will deter some people looking to become a politician for the money, but then again, with a role as serious as this, not only should it be seen as a reward enough to be able to serve your country, but also, you shouldn’t be in parliament any if that’s all you’re in it for.

This isn’t something you could write into your MP about. They would scrunch up your letter after taking another sip of Voss. No, it would be the kind of perspective that money can’t buy. And anyway, it’s not like this saved money would be used for anything meaningful- after all, what’s a few hundred thousand here and there these days- but perhaps the May’s realisation may be worth more than even that: the moment when she sees that Corbyn, love him or hate him, isn’t popular just because he’s a vegan. He’s popular because, unlike so many others in his demographic, at least he has some sense of reality and has more emotion that a piece of cardboard (cue Glastonbury chants). But that’s a bit of unfair. May did run through a field of wheat, after all.

[1] https://fullfact.org/law/how-much-does-prime-minister-get-paid/

[2] http://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/members/pay-mps/

[3] http://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/members/teawithanmp/tea-with-rupa-huq/

[4] http://www.cityam.com/206242/where-can-you-earn-most-uk-pay-london-much-higher-any-other-part-uk