56
submitted 11 months ago by 0x815@feddit.de to c/unitedkingdom@feddit.uk

Rishi Sunak and cabinet ministers set out their vision for the future in Manchester, at what was likely the last party conference before a general election. But outside of the main hall, corporate sponsorship ran wild. Business leaders – including representatives from gambling and social media companies – paid up to £3,300 to dine with ministers in charge of key policy decisions, with no record of what was discussed. Policy Exchange, a think tank that does not disclose its funders and has a track record of influencing government policy, hosted a range of events.

top 7 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] Biohazard@feddit.uk 8 points 11 months ago

"Democracy" doesn't exist. Dictators just have to go through more steps to control us.

[-] Syldon@feddit.uk 7 points 11 months ago

MPs should not be allowed to earn money from secondary sources. If this means paying MPs more, then it is in our interests to do just that. We have been sold out for long enough now.

While we are at it remove all party donations and set up government funded platform for canvassing. Elections with the highest budgets are usually the most successful. It is just another form of paid legislation.

[-] Gsus4@feddit.nl 1 points 11 months ago

I'd like to have an idea of the history of MP pay in terms of the average salary to understand if this is a new thing, if they have always had side businesses and claimed "favours" later or if there is an actual decline in the status of "civic duty".

[-] Syldon@feddit.uk 3 points 11 months ago

GL finding the MPs who will give up that data.

[-] Gsus4@feddit.nl 1 points 11 months ago

yes, but it's a body that has existed for more than 300 years, there must be some way to get an impression on it through the times :)

[-] 0x815@feddit.de 2 points 11 months ago

MPs in the UK received £10m for second jobs and freelance in 2022..

The additional income must be declared and is then published at the register of members' financial interest on the parliament's website. Here's a version from 2022 (pdf).

I personally don't think that the additional income during their membership alone is relevant but also the 'revolving door' policy between industry/lobbying groups and politics, and not to forget the funding and support of campaigns a.d the like (meaning that interest groups support the party, not the individual politician).

But that's just my opinion, and it's not a problem only in the UK imo.

[-] the_post_of_tom_joad@sh.itjust.works 5 points 11 months ago

"Policy exchange" sounds an awful lot like "ALEC" the "American legislative exchange council" and what they do is hand legislation to them, fully written by industry leaders to be passed into law. Often without reading them

this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2023
56 points (100.0% liked)

United Kingdom

4034 readers
87 users here now

General community for news/discussion in the UK.

Less serious posts should go in !casualuk@feddit.uk or !andfinally@feddit.uk
More serious politics should go in !uk_politics@feddit.uk.

Try not to spam the same link to multiple feddit.uk communities.
Pick the most appropriate, and put it there.

Posts should be related to UK-centric news, and should be either a link to a reputable source, or a text post on this community.

Opinion pieces are also allowed, provided they are not misleading/misrepresented/drivel, and have proper sources.

If you think "reputable news source" needs some definition, by all means start a meta thread.

Posts should be manually submitted, not by bot. Link titles should not be editorialised.

Disappointing comments will generally be left to fester in ratio, outright horrible comments will be removed.
Message the mods if you feel something really should be removed, or if a user seems to have a pattern of awful comments.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS