Parliamentary Standards Bill

I would not necessarily go that far, but we need to set a debate such as this in context. As the hon. Lady pointed out, our constituents do not understand quite what we do. I do not blame them. For the first few years that we are here, we do not understand exactly all the responsibilities either. To inform decision making on remuneration or considerations, one must take into account what is expected of a Member of Parliament. When it comes to second jobs or declaring outside income and the amount of time spent on outside interests, that can be misconstrued if being a Member of Parliament is seen as a full-time, nine-to-five job, which is not the situation. In many ways we are self-employed small business owners. We run our own offices and employ our own staff. In some ways we are paid employees for the functions that we perform in the House. In some cases we are unpaid employees, when we work, many of us, more than 60 or 70 hours a week. It is a vocation. We are trainees—novices—when we first arrive. We are part-time employees because we have long recesses, apparently. We have duties within working hours and outside working hours. This is not a clearly defined job that implies that there should be a salary. There were allowances from the 1300s to the 1700s, and they were reintroduced in 1911 by Lloyd George. He said:""When we offer £400 a year as payment of Members of Parliament it is not a recognition of the magnitude of the service, it is not remuneration, it is not a recompense, it is not even a salary. It is just an allowance."" That was to reflect the fact that people come from different walks of life and have different financial means. The allowance was intended to enable those with lesser means to perform functions in Parliament, but it was not a salary. I am a little concerned that we have slipped into using "salary" for parliamentary moneys that are transferred to Members when, in fact, they are not necessarily a salary. To make the debate a bit more exciting, I should say that £400, if translated into current-day average earnings, amounts to somewhere between—we can argue the figure—£140,000 and £250,000. That is the context in which the issue ought to be considered. I am not arguing for that amount, so please let nobody assume that I am. [Interruption.] I notice that some people are nodding, saying "No, do argue for it", but I am not going to do so. I merely observe that those moneys are not necessarily a salary, and that there may be a simpler way to tackle the issue. I hope that the Kelly review will consider that. I am very much in favour of simplicity, but I am concerned that the Bill adds another layer of complexity. We are in danger of repeating mistakes, by just adding more bodies, by not tackling the underlying issue and by creating a system that is as ugly as that which we are attempting to replace. The Bill is too hasty and knee-jerk; we need a better debate about the role of an MP and what they should be paid for. Some direct input by people into the review would be very helpful. The Bill is either too narrow or too broad—but it has certainly come too soon and without proper consideration.