Starmer's vision quest

[Dorset Boy]

Is that the best you can come up with?

Anyway, she'll be homeless unless she doesn't, because she needs to pay that mortgage.

Well no, as implied by people on other threads, it's her choice to live in that property with that mortgage.
She could sell the property and move into a chewaper property and have a mortgage she can afford to pay on her basic MPs salary instead.

 

[BoldonLad]

Well no, as implied by people on other threads, it's her choice to live in that property with that mortgage.
She could sell the property and move into a chewaper property and have a mortgage she can afford to pay on her basic MPs salary instead.

You mean, in a similar way to some elderly person who has been hit with the "mansion tax" because the rules have changed and they happen to be asset rich but cash poor? 😂

 

[Pross]

I'm not quite sure doing a few after dinner speeches counts as a second job. Politicians have done that for as long as I can remember.

 

[icowden]

She could now earn tens of thousands of pounds a year delivering addresses to corporate clients on politics and “leadership under pressure”.
Ms Rayner faced accusations of hypocrisy on Thursday night over the new role, given that she has previously criticised MPs who have second jobs.
In March 2023, while deputy Labour leader, she posted online: “Being an MP isn’t a second job. It is the job. Labour will put an end to this racket.”

Come one Stevo, I had you down as right wing but at least capable of some critical thinking.

Firstly - this is an article in the Telegraph. A newspaper that regularly indulges in fiction to generate clicks.

She could now earn tens of thousands of pounds a year delivering addresses to corporate clients on politics and “leadership under pressure”.

Translation: We have no idea whether she is making money from speeches, how much money she is making from speeches, but we think that she might have charged someone for making a speech or be intending to charge someone for making a speech.

A little bit of googling would have shown you the actual (non) story. Angela Rayner has been approved by the Prime Minister's independent advisor on ministerial standards to become a paid speaker for Chartwell Speakers.

A little more would have shown that the reason for joining Chartwell appears to be that she had been asked to speak at an event for a Pensions Insurance Specialist and that they wanted to pay her via Chartwell. She says in her submission that she would speak occasionally at private events.

This then leads to the philosophical discussion about whether being paid occasionally to do after dinner speaking really constitutes a second job. Obviously some of the most critical politicians will be people like Nigel 12 Jobs Farage.

Note also that the Daily Mail went on the attack about the sheer hypocrisy of Rayner doing some speeches after they and other rags hounded her out of her cabinet post. They don't mention their own sheer hypocrisy in avoiding taxes and publishing misinformation.

 

[AuroraSaab]

She's being bigged up on the Chartwell site as a Keynote Speaker, available for hire.

Many parlimentarians have side gigs but if you criticise the second job thing then take on one yourself you are going to leave yourself open to criticism. Her fee for speaking is likely to be more than many people earn for for 6 months work so the frequency of her speaking engagements is a bit irrelevant.

I do wonder if it's a sign that she's given up ambitions to lead the party.

 

[Pblakeney]

This is such a non-story for me.
If you hound someone out of a position you can't be surprised if they then take on another role.

 

[Dorset Boy]

This is such a non-story for me.
If you hound someone out of a position you can't be surprised if they then take on another role.

But it's the hypocrisy element - when you say that being an MP is a full time job, and the only job, criticise other MPs for having other jobs, and then take on additional work yourself, it brings the hypocrisy back to the fore again.

 

[Pblakeney]

But it's the hypocrisy element - when you say that being an MP is a full time job, and the only job, criticise other MPs for having other jobs, and then take on additional work yourself, it brings the hypocrisy back to the fore again.

It depends entirely on the other jobs. During the day taking up ministerial time? Yes, I fully agree.
After dinner speaking in the evening? Not so much. I'm sure that there will be nuances glossed over or emphasised depending on point of view.

 

[Psamathe]

It depends entirely on the other jobs. During the day taking up ministerial time? Yes, I fully agree.
After dinner speaking in the evening? Not so much. I'm sure that there will be nuances glossed over or emphasised depending on point of view.

When I've had to give talks/lectures it's the preparation, working out a coherent presentation, etc. that takes the time, not the standing-up and talking.

But clearly we don't know if she's spending her evenings doing that work ... But then as a non-exec director (more than just a letterhead name) reading status reports, financial data, etc. pre a board meeting takes time as well.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Never sure whether I should be more vexed by leftie bollox or rightie shite.

It’s all bullsh*t.

 

[Dorset Boy]

It depends entirely on the other jobs. During the day taking up ministerial time? Yes, I fully agree.
After dinner speaking in the evening? Not so much. I'm sure that there will be nuances glossed over or emphasised depending on point of view.

Well there is, as mentioned, preparation, travel, late nights, and doesn't parliament still still into the evenings sometimes?

Personally I don't care is MPs do some stuff outside their MP work, so long as it doesn't adversely impact their MP work.
But if you call others out for doing it, state they shouldn't be doing extra non-MP work, and then do just that, you are a hypocrite.

 

[Pross]

I have a full time job but I’m confident I could fit in doing regular after dinner speaking if I was that way inclined. In my industry people are actively encouraged to get involved with the activities of associated Institutions which I would put on a par in terms of time requirements. It’s not the same as spending part of your work day on the Board of a PLC or most of your working life promoting yourself on TV.

 

[Pblakeney]

Well there is, as mentioned, preparation, travel, late nights, and doesn't parliament still still into the evenings sometimes?

Personally I don't care is MPs do some stuff outside their MP work, so long as it doesn't adversely impact their MP work.
But if you call others out for doing it, state they shouldn't be doing extra non-MP work, and then do just that, you are a hypocrite.

As I said, nuances, and we probably don't actually disagree on the practicalities. One of the two following sentences must be true.
Acting as Deputy Leader takes up no time.
Rayner has spare time now that she is no longer Deputy Leader.

 

[secretsqirrel]

In March 2023, while deputy Labour leader, she posted online: “Being an MP isn’t a second job. It is the job. Labour will put an end to this racket.”

I’m not sure she is complaining about second jobs tho’. To me she is just saying that being an MP should not be relegated to being a 2nd job?

 

[Pross]

In March 2023, while deputy Labour leader, she posted online: “Being an MP isn’t a second job. It is the job. Labour will put an end to this racket.”

I’m not sure she is complaining about second jobs tho’. To me she is just saying that being an MP should not be relegated to being a 2nd job?

But hypocrisy or something