On Friday 331 Conservative MPs opposed a motion that would have led to weekly testing of NHS workers and care staff and guess who was among them… yep, you guessed – our MP’s Jeremy Hunt and Angela – ‘how high would you like me to jump Boris – Richardson.’
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, alongside Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, Jon Ashworth and Liz Kendall had brought a motion to Parliament calling for greater protective measures to be rolled out in the health system.
But it was voted down by more than 300 MPs, including Jeremy Hunt who had called for a weekly testing himself on the same day.
So Jeremy and Angie its OK to join us all clapping for carers – but when it comes to voting – your careers are more important?
At the start of the pandemic, we were told MPs were to receive a huge boost to their expenses allowance when IPSA raised their monthly credit card limit to £10,000; allowed items to be claimed for without proof of purchase, and increased office budgets by £10,000. Since then, IPSA has also changed rules to allow MPs to claim for taxis. We can’t expect our representatives to catch the plague-ridden public transport like the rest of us voting fodder – can we?
Yesterday, a further boost was announced, in the form of a £312 annual homeworking bonus for MPs’ staff, to cover their home telephone usage, internet, electricity and gas – all tax-free. If every parliamentary staffer – none of whose incomes have been hit by Coronavirus – claimed the allowance, it would cost the taxpayer £1.1 million…
MPs will also be able to request up £18,270 extra for their staffing budget to deal with “a rise in workload for their offices as a result of coronavirus” – up from the £10,000 allowance rise announced at the start of the lockdown.
Responding to the neverending parliamentary pandemic pocket-lining, The Taxpayers’ Alliance Duncan Simpson told the Waverley Web:
“MPs and their staff should not be getting budget top-ups for working from home when everyone else is being expected to just get on with it.
“Millions have been stuck in the house, looking after kids and cracking on with their day jobs – where’s their £312 annual homeworking bonus?
“Parliamentary authorities need to get a grip and stop pampering our politicos.”
We wonder, is this is the last excuse for picking the pockets of the public we’ll see from IPSA before the pandemic is out…
“MPs and their staff should not be getting budget top-ups for working from home when everyone else is being expected to just get on with it. Millions have been stuck in the house, looking after kids and cracking on with their day jobs – where’s their £312 annual homeworking bonus? Parliamentary authorities need to get a grip and stop pampering our politicians.”
Before long Jeremy & Angie – you may need those hard hats. Because the public are getting angry – very angry!
Couldn’t agree more – We have all had to work from home and even us self-employed Semi-Home workers have had nothing towards paying for the additional Phone/Utilities etc we are using – Part of………. All of us in this together…..
But why have they not signed up for Health workers, carers etc being tested Weekly? what is their agenda? – Do they not think Testing is actually working? in which case it may be pointless….I really struggle to understand any of this. I have a vulnerable Client and a Shielding Sister-in-law (due to Cancer) She had 4 tests and the final one showed her as positive after leaving Hospital, But then 3 days later she was told it was Negative!