Seeing the outrage at Westminster MPs and their 10% pay-rise, I was motivated to join Medium and share my own sentiment.
If you’re angry that your representative in Parliament is being paid more, please take them to task over it. The vast majority of MPs hold walk-in ‘surgeries’ every week, where anyone in their constituency can go to raise issues with them (crazy, I know).
So go on, go see them. Tell them you think they’re being paid too much. Demand to hear what they are doing to have their salary raised at this time of austerity and welfare cuts (though best to check if they’re one of the ones pledging to donate their pay-rise to charity first). If you can’t get to the surgery, write to them. The majority will write back.
They’ll probably tell you how, actually, they have no choice in their pay-rise, how it’s been decided by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, and possibly how they are far from the highest paid Parliamentarians on the international scene.
They might also tell you that (according to the last survey carried out in 2011) they average a 69-hour working week. They could even go on to explain that IPSA is also making moves to pay for the rise by cutting their pensions, expenses allowances and the current golden parachute they receive if voted out of out office (currently a maximum of £33,000 for 6+ years of service, plus expenses to ‘wind up’ their office).
The MPs pay rise will cost each person in the UK country about 78p per year. The extra £8billion per year for the NHS pledged in the Conservative Manifesto will cost us £124.80 each. Yes, a pay-rise when welfare cuts are being made is poorly timed — but it’s a drop in the ocean next to the question of who or what will suffer if the current plans for “growth” don’t cough up the money needed to keep the NHS afloat.
Let me reiterate, I’m not ‘for’ the pay-rise, but neither am I against it. There are just bigger issues I feel I should focus my energies on.
On election day, I was outraged that a Government had been voted in that (I feel) doesn’t rule for the majority of our country. I decided to stop being outraged, and do something about it. The best part is, every outraged person out there can do something about it. Politics isn’t for just 650 elected men and women in London, it’s open to everyone.
I decided to join the party that I felt was aligned most closely to my ideals and would work in the best interests of the whole country. I made a choice to soak in as much as I could, so that I can move forward towards doing something — anything — to stand up for what I believe in.
In the two months since election day, I’ve met other members in my area that are doing their bit for their community. I now know all of my local councillors by name, so I know who to go to if I don’t think something on my street is as it should be.
I’ve met my MP. I’ve attended events and seen other MPs speak, giving their views on the future of our country. I delivered leaflets to the houses behind mine — houses I had never even seen before. I met a lovely old lady who talked to me about her views for 10 minutes. It was nice. For the first time in 5 years, I felt like I was really meeting my neighbours. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t outraged anymore. I was invested. Motivated. Keen.
It’s not rocket science. If you don’t like the status quo, be part of something that seeks to change it. I genuinely don’t care who you think stands for your views — Tories, Labour, Greens, SNP, UKIP, Monster Raving Loonies — it really doesn’t matter. The more people that decide to actively engage with the people that want to run our country, the more they will actually understand us.
What matters is that you get out there and do more than just be part of the outrage. Be part of the response to that outrage. Join the movement. I promise, it’s not difficult and you can leave any time you like. Who knows? You might just make a difference.
