Widespread support for “slashing MPs”

A report into the cost of MPs in Westminster has recommended the whole system needs to be “transformed” to become more efficient and effective. This comes hot on the heels of a similar review that suggested the fire service also needed major reforming.

Reported incidences of competent MPs have fallen by 40% in the last decade but the number of £65,000-a-year parliamentarians has remained roughly the same. The report has stated having 650 separate “headless chickens” was not sensible.

“With some MPs being half as effective as others, tens of millions of pounds could be saved each year” the report’s author said. “I recommend cutting back on some of the non-effective ones such as George Galloway, Michael Gove and Ed Miliband.”

Despite being criticised by some for suggesting the reduction, the author has said that this is actually a “really good news story”. “This just proves that the public have become aware that things work better if we all just get on with it without them. Life is much safer for everyone when we can just prevent having to use an MP to go out on the front line, in papers and on television.”

One suggestion from the report to privatise constituency MPs has been ruled out. Companies such as G4S have said they make enough money being overpaid for doing nothing, so having to provide a decent service for the money they are paid was out of the question.

In a poll commissioned by the Evening Harold, 84% of readers agreed that money could be saved by reducing the amount of “retained” MPs. Anyone watching the BBC’s Parliament channel will have noticed that most debates in the commons are attended by only a handful of MPs most of whom use it as a napping opportunity. However each of the main parties have a number of part-time retained MPs they can call on to help with policy fire-fighting but who serve very little other purpose.

There are two main proposals that have been met with the most support. The first is to adopt the Scottish devolved parliament model of having only one really recognisable face of politics making a nuisance of himself, with a few others in the background getting on with the job.

The second has received with a lot of public support, but that has been put down to a misunderstanding of the phrase “slashing MPs”.