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Why would you conclude that all those MPs and Lords also live in London? Most likely they live somewhere much nicer and have a driver getting them to 'work' onc

Why would you conclude that all those MPs and Lords also live in London? Most likely they live somewhere much nicer and have a driver getting them to 'work' once a month. *Once a month on the assumption that most sessions are only attended by a handful of MPs. On the other hand I once heard that the rich in Germany (in some places at least) have worse air quality than the poor, because the rich all have got their fireplaces going (how ironic is that?-)

learnstats2 8y ago
Lords get paid £305 per day they turn up to Parliament when it's in session, with no further allowances except for travel expenses (so pay for their own staff). They generally do turn up. MPs are also often around, even if they are not in the Commons chamber. They are generally aware of proceedings in the chamber, and come in when there is a vote that is relevant.
taejo 8y ago
> Once a month on the assumption that most sessions are only attended by a handful of MPs. Most sessions of the House are attended by a handful of MPs, because no real work is happening there. Meaningful debate in the House is rare, and the results of divisions (votes) are usually known ahead of time. And in any case a debate is not a good way to write any kind of document, so any MP actually wanting to make a difference is doing so in committees, which are not seen on TV nearly as often, but are pretty well attended from my quick scan of attendance records.
tialaramex 8y ago
No, when it's in session Parliament is pretty much a full day's job for an MP, probably more if you're actually trying to do good work and/or have a cabinet or shadow cabinet post. Remember in the UK the executive is run by ordinary people elected to the legislature, they aren't just arbitrarily picked by a President, although in some roles it will be tolerated to "elevate" outsiders to the House of Lords and then give them a minor cabinet post, doing this with a Great Office would cause outrage in the modern era, those are always given to elected MPs. Because the Prime Minister can change in days (or in practice hours) an entire parallel Shadow cabinet also needs to exist for a party that would seek government, with no power today but every capability to take over political control of government tomorrow if called to. My local MP commutes, less than two hours each way - gets the same train home I was catching after visiting the (London) office, so leaving London just after 1900 on a weekday, to obviously the same city I live in on the coast. Those who live further away have flats in London, they stay for four nights a week and go home at weekends. Indeed some of the last train services heading North on a Friday are almost explicitly for such MPs and staff. Kings Cross to Edinburgh on a Friday evening is not exactly a tourist route, it won't get there until after midnight. Using an official car would be an unacceptable expense except for certain senior ministers (who work in London all the time, e.g. the Prime Minister and often senior cabinet ministers live there) and it's frowned on even then, one of the few good things you can say about Boris (Johnson, the city's previous mayor) is that he rode a bicycle a lot rather than constantly getting official cars just a few miles up the road.

learnstats2 8y ago

Lords get paid £305 per day they turn up to Parliament when it's in session, with no further allowances except for travel expenses (so pay for their own staff). They generally do turn up. MPs are also often around, even if they are not in the Commons chamber. They are generally aware of proceedings in the chamber, and come in when there is a vote that is relevant.

taejo 8y ago

> Once a month on the assumption that most sessions are only attended by a handful of MPs. Most sessions of the House are attended by a handful of MPs, because no real work is happening there. Meaningful debate in the House is rare, and the results of divisions (votes) are usually known ahead of time. And in any case a debate is not a good way to write any kind of document, so any MP actually wanting to make a difference is doing so in committees, which are not seen on TV nearly as often, but are pretty well attended from my quick scan of attendance records.

tialaramex 8y ago

No, when it's in session Parliament is pretty much a full day's job for an MP, probably more if you're actually trying to do good work and/or have a cabinet or shadow cabinet post. Remember in the UK the executive is run by ordinary people elected to the legislature, they aren't just arbitrarily picked by a President, although in some roles it will be tolerated to "elevate" outsiders to the House of Lords and then give them a minor cabinet post, doing this with a Great Office would cause outrage in the modern era, those are always given to elected MPs. Because the Prime Minister can change in days (or in practice hours) an entire parallel Shadow cabinet also needs to exist for a party that would seek government, with no power today but every capability to take over political control of government tomorrow if called to. My local MP commutes, less than two hours each way - gets the same train home I was catching after visiting the (London) office, so leaving London just after 1900 on a weekday, to obviously the same city I live in on the coast. Those who live further away have flats in London, they stay for four nights a week and go home at weekends. Indeed some of the last train services heading North on a Friday are almost explicitly for such MPs and staff. Kings Cross to Edinburgh on a Friday evening is not exactly a tourist route, it won't get there until after midnight. Using an official car would be an unacceptable expense except for certain senior ministers (who work in London all the time, e.g. the Prime Minister and often senior cabinet ministers live there) and it's frowned on even then, one of the few good things you can say about Boris (Johnson, the city's previous mayor) is that he rode a bicycle a lot rather than constantly getting official cars just a few miles up the road.