Once again the amount we pay our members of parliament has come under question. It is not good enough to say that is decided by an independent body. The general public will see that as a committee of the Great And The Good, all part of the same Establishment as the politicians themselves.
What is needed is a genuine survey of the UK public to set in stone what comparators should be used in setting parliamentarians' pay. Are they worth more or less than a refuse collector? More or less than a head teacher? Or a newspaper editor (Paul Dacre at the Mail pulls in over £1million a year, but he must be at the top of the tree)?
I would envisage the survey being conducted by several independent bodies separately, to reduce bias. The annual calculation of MPs salaries would then be carried out by an arms-length organisation, such as the Office for National Statistics or that for Budget Responsibility.
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