So much for "pay discipline"

It's been quite widely reported that Brown is trying to force his own MPs to be sensible and restrained on the matter of their payrises. This morning's Times for example says that Brown has ordered his ministers and whips to quell a rebellion over the "above-inflation pay increase" of 2.8%.

Should he succeed it will no doubt be painted as victory of his strength and prudence, but perhaps, before he does that, he should explain why that new Communications Allowance that MPs get of £10,000 a year rises based on the Retail Price Index which is running at over 2% higher than the Consumer Price Index which he uses all the time to make it sound like inflation is low.

Think about this for a moment. Brown says that public sector workers must be disciplined and accept pay rises that will not impact inflation. Now, putting aside the hogwash of that argument, how can it be that a public sector worker on say £12,000 a year is told that they can only expect a payrise of 2% based on the CPI, whilst the MPs in Parliament have a £10,000 allowance that will rise each year by - on current figures - about 4.3%.

Some people don't like the implication that MPs are feathering their own nests, but when you have a situation where allowances are risen in line with the more trutful and realistic inflation figure, whilst simultaneously telling people earning little more than the allowance that they can only have half the percentage rise otherwise they risk destablising the economy you can't help wondering what planet the people in power are actually on.

The current total value of the propaganda communication allowance is, according to the Leader of the House of Commons' Office, £6.46 million on the basis of a maximum spend by all members. At the current RPI rate that will rise by about £250,000 next year, but that is not dangerous to the economy you see, oh no!

Ricky Gervais's sitcom character in Extras has the catchphrase "are you 'avin a laugh? Is he 'avin a laugh?" All I can think is "are they taking the piss? Is he taking the piss?"

Cause and Effect No. II

Decmeber 9th 2007: A law to cut red tape – hailed by Gordon Brown as a crucial means of reducing the burden on business – has failed to axe or even amend a single regulation in the first year of its existence. - Financial Times

December 11th 2007: Cuts to red tape are saving UK businesses and third sector organisations more than £800 million per year, according to a Government report released today. - Government News Network

Brown plays politics with terrorism

Interesting tale over at Iain's blog about Gordon Brown's spinning of his Sunday terrorism announcements. It seems that part of the operation was to strong arm all papers into not carrying anything from any opposition politicians, or lose their briefing rights. Iain also has another piece about the supposed "ordinary girl" that met Gordon Brown on the tube and then was intrviewed by Time Magazine.