Parliamentary standards

[shewhomust]

My radio tells me that if an MP absents himself (or, presumably herself, but the examples discussed were all men) for several weeks to pursue a legal career in the Caribbean, this will be frowned on, but is within the rules.

If, on the other hand, while at Westminster he takes time out to hold a business meeting in his office, this is an outrageous breech of the rules.

Because reasons.

Also, many MPs have paid work outside parliament: among other examples, there is apparently more than one GP. Given the demands of both jobs, I am less worried about my MP moonlighting as a GP than I am about my GP moonlighting as an MP, but perhaps that's just me.

Anyway, all this is a good thing, because it keeps MPs in touch with real life outside Westminster. I was waiting to hear the counter-example of Sir David Amess, who kept in touch with real life outside Westminster by taking up issues brought to him by constituents in distress, but his name was not mentioned. That was so last month.

Comments

[cmcmck]

Seems to have been a hell of a lot more than 'several weeks'.

This is sleaze and corruption on a heroic scale!

[shewhomust]

Indeed, but breaking a rule here and there is amateur stuff: enthusiastic amateurds by all means, but still. The industrial strength corruption is what the rules allow - rules which they have, of course, made themselves.