ConservativeHome's ToryDiary

Parliamentary Standards Commissioner will investigate Caroline Spelman

John Lyon, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, has confirmed that the Conservative Party Chairman will now be investigated for her employment of her nanny ten years ago, when she first became an MP.  Mr Lyon had originally said that it would be exceptional to carry out an inquiry into a case more than seven years old.  CCHQ is understood to have wanted an inquiry, however, to clear the air - one way or the other.  ConservativeHome still expects Mrs Spelman to be exonerated.

4pm:

SHOULD CAROLINE SPELMAN STAY PARTY CHAIRMAN?  VOTE HERE.

Nanny's statement backs Caroline Spelman MP

Full text below.  This doesn't quite end the matter, however.  Was Newsnight's Michael Crick too quick to believe the worst of the Conservative Chairman?  His methods during the 'Betsygate' episode were questioned by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards in 2004.  It appears that he now has a case to answer...

Caroline Spelman refers payments to nanny/ secretary to Parliamentary Commissioner

Caroline Spelman MP has done the right thing this morning by referring the case of payments to her 1997/ 1998 nanny/ secretary to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.  On the face of it there is a case to answer but in all of this feverish speculation about MPs' use of their expenses it is important to assume innocence until a proper investigation has established the facts.  We have confidence in Mrs Spelman's integrity and hope and expect her to be exonerated.  Watch Mrs Spelman explain the situation in this BBC video.

As many said in the earlier thread of comments, the BBC has not covered itself in glory in its coverage of this affair.  It obviously merits attention but to lead the Today programme on a day when, for example, the Church of England makes a devastating attack on Labour?  When the Church of England produced its Faith in the City critique of Thatcherism in the 1980s it dominated BBC bulletins for days.  We'll be covering this important report later today.

Party Chairman questioned by BBC over pay for secretary

Newsnight has questioned Caroline Spelman about expenses paid to her secretary - who doubled up as a nanny - of ten years ago. The matter has been referred to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner by a Labour MP. A Conservative spokesman explained that:

"Tina was paid from her parliamentary allowance for the work she carried out providing secretarial support in the constituency. Tina also provided childcare outside school hours and in return for this she received free board and lodging along with use of a car provided at Caroline's personal expense.

Following a conversation with the chief whip at the time, Caroline decided that although she had not done anything wrong, it would be better to have separate arrangements for her secretarial staffing and her childcare."

'If MPs keep giving up powers to Europe they should be paid less'

That's the stark message of a Ten Minute Rule Bill that Peter Lilley MP intends to introduce to the House of Commons later today.

Speaking to ePolitix, Mr Lilley, Deputy Tory Leader under William Hague, said:

"It's really to make them aware of what they're doing and a lot of people are sleepwalking into this process of giving away powers in successive European treaties so that we become less and less important and less and less significant... In every other walk of life, one's pay reflects one's responsibilities. If we're going to reduce those responsibilities we should accept that we're paid less and if we get more powers back from Europe and increase the responsibilities of Parliament again then that should be reflected positively in the remuneration of MPs.  If we're progressively reducing the powers of Westminster, that it's becoming more like a county council, then we should be paid accordingly.  It's moving gradually in that direction; it's got a long way to go before it's just a county council but it has lost a lot of power."

Mr Lilley adds:

"If we have less power we should get less pay.  If ever we get powers back from Europe we should have more pay."

There's an idea-and-a-half!  Let's double MPs' pay if they restore serious powers to the Commons.  That would be a bargain as far as we're concerned.

An extra £5,000 per MP for the end of CAP?  +£10,000 for the Social Chapter?  £20,000 extra for supremacy of UK courts? 

Douglas Carswell MP calls for Speaker Martin to go

Last week we learnt that David Cameron vetoed a vote of no confidence in The Speaker and up until this morning there had been a reluctance on the part of all MPs to criticise Michael Martin.  MPs have been afraid to criticise the man who calls them in debates and for questions.  Thankfully one MP has broken ranks in today's Mail on Sunday and called for The Speaker to go.  Here is a key extract from what Douglas Carswell MP has written for the MoS:

"At a recent constituency coffee morning, an elderly lady demanded to know if it were true that "you MPs have spent a fortune on lawyers to keep your expenses secret".  I haven't, but the Speaker has. And that, surely, is the point.  I am a Member of the House of Commons, yet the 'men-in-tights' have acted without giving either me, or my colleagues, a real say as to how they have handled this mess.

No other MPs have so far been willing to speak out. I am the first. Apparently, I am told, it's "just not cricket". It's "not what one does if one wants to get on". Besides, don't I know that if I upset him, Mr Speaker might not call me to speak in a debate again?  Well, I'm trying to represent my constituents, not play cricket. I am not in politics to "get on" but to speak up. And if Mr Speaker does take umbrage and not call on me to speak, surely that merely reinforces the point I am trying to make?  Too many MPs, alas, simply don't get it. There is too much tearoom talk of "media witch-hunts" and "irresponsible journalists"."

Douglas - who writes regular posts for CentreRight.com - believes that Parliament needs radical reform.  He uses his article to attack the MPs who are slaves to the executive in the hope of one day becoming "minister for widgets".  He calls for the chairmen of Select Committees to be chosen by free votes of all MPs and not by the Whips.  He says most big government departments are now run by unaccountable officials and too many UK powers have been lost to Europe. He calls for electors to have the right to "recall" "wayward" MPs during a Parliament.  He also believes that the public should be able to petition Parliament and put issues on to its agenda for debate.

And in wanting all of this Mr Carswell sees the Speaker as an opponent of real modernisation and reform.  Douglas is right.  The sooner the Speaker is replaced, the better.

The seven deadly political sins

Earlier today PoliticsHome's new Westminster insiders panel was asked to say whether certain aspects of a politician's personal life influence a voter's view of them.

The results are summarised in the graphic on the right.

The MPs, journalists, think tank leaders and career politicians on the panel believe that a problem with alcohol is most likely to influence voters and violation of traffic laws least.  It also appears that big expense claims and a large carbon footprint are more politically tricky than adultery or student use of cocaine.  How times change!

Andrew Rawnsley, Editor-in-chief of PoliticsHome, writes this in conclusion:

"The PHI100's guide to political sins goes like this. Don't worry too much about dumping the wife or admitting to some youthful drug use.   But watch the demon drink: it can destroy your reputation as well as your liver.  And careful with those expenses: the voters really don't like spendalots."

Related link: Should a politician's private life matter? Yes, says Tim Montgomerie

Bob Spink resigns the Conservative Whip ...after Tory machine declines to save him from deselection

Bob Spink, MP for the safe seat of Castle Point, has surprisingly resigned the Conservative Whip. He chose to announce his decision in a point of order during the House of Commons Budget debate this afternoon.

He cited the Party's failure to deal with unspecified "serious criminal and other irregularities" in his constituency, although the BBC is quoting a Party spokesman saying the Whip was withdrawn from him...

5pm update: Spink's statement confirms his resignation is related to deselection attempts from his Association...

"The Party has failed to deal with local breaches of its rules and electoral irregularities, and with criminal activities over a long period and there are now corruption and other investigations, surrounding certain senior members of my local Association. It is with great sadness that I therefore felt compelled to resign the Party whip. I hope my action in resigning will bring the necessary changes and therefore be in both the public and the Party’s best interests."

He had written this in his local paper two weeks ago:

"It is for Castle Point residents to decide who will be their MP, not a small number of self-selected individuals with their private agendas. I have made very serious enemies. So it is not surprising that some senior members of the Conservative Association executive have been working, yet again, to deselect me."

6pm: We've added the italics to the title: '...after Tory machine declines to save him from deselection'.  It appears - according to our CCHQ sources - that Mr Spink asked for the Tory machine to intervene to save him from a deselection meeting scheduled for next Tuesday.  He threatened to resign the whip if he didn't get that help.  The Tory leadership decided to take the whip away from him in response to that "blackmail".  There is some dispute as to whether he resigned first or was sacked first.  CCHQ say the whip was withdrawn before his Commons intervention.

9pm: Other blogosphere reaction: Guido has an email from Bob Spink.  Nadine Dorries expects Bob to defect to UKIP.  The FT's Jim Pickard has some of the background.

The 2005 Conservative intake recommends new powers for voters to remove ethically questionable MPs

Yesterday, in a comment left on CentreRight.com (and discussed by Jonathan Isaby on Three Line Whip), Robert Key MP questioned the dedication of some of the younger MPs:

"Too many young Members are entirely predictable in what they say and how they vote. They are just as boring as the handful of insecure MPs who only ever speak about their constituencies and forget they are sent here as independent representatives to shape national policies and decisions and Britain's place in the world."

Well the younger MPs - 27 of the 2005 intake (listed opposite) - are certainly setting the pace on public trust in politicians this morning.  In a letter to The Telegraph they say that consideration should be given to constituents having the power to "recall" Members of Parliament between elections:

"We would want safeguards to be put in place to ensure that this mechanism was not abused, such as requiring a high percentage of registered voters in a constituency to petition for a recall ballot, or only permitting a recall ballot when the Commons Standards and Privileges Committee has recommended it as a sanction.  None the less, a mechanism of this sort used in exceptional circumstances would increase MPs' accountability, address some of the frustration felt by a disenchanted public and help restore trust in our democratic institutions."

ConservativeHome strongly supports this initiative - it was one of the recommendations we made in the fourth theme of our still unfolding Agenda 2008.  We are also encouraged to learn that the letter was submitted with the full knowledge of the Tory leadership.  On his blog yesterday, Guido noted that the Tories were waking up to the scale of voter discontent with the political establishment.  We can only hope so.  The party leadership still has a long way to go if it is to convince this site that it is genuinely anti-establishment.  Admitting that he has been wrong about supporting more state funding for political parties and ending the incumbent-favouring control freakery that has characterised the reselection of MEPs would be signs that David Cameron was really serious.  He shouldn't be afraid of admitting he was wrong on state funding.  Voters are very supportive of politicians who hold their hands up, say sorry and adopt a position in tune with them.

Related link: Matthew Elliott of The TaxPayers' Alliance on how an anti-politician strategy is the right way forward

4pm: Dan Hannan salutes David Gauke's role in producing the letter

Michael Gove becomes the latest Tory MP to start blogging

Michael Gove becomes the latest MP to start blogging.  He will succeed if he makes the blog an essential source of information about education.  Too many political websites are all about the party or the candidate.  They need to be issue-driven or community-focused.  Our advice to Michael: Invite teachers, headteachers, parents groups and others to all be guest authors on your blog.  Make it an essential site for those interested in education.  By inviting others to contribute you'll find it easier to maintain and more people will link to it and promote it.

Regular blogging is the most important ingredient of a successful blog.  It's also the hardest thing to achieve.  Some MPs have tried to start regular blogging - Ed Vaizey springs to mind - but find it difficult to maintain the regular posting that is necessary for a reasonable audience.

Group blogs like CentreRight.com and Cornerstone give MPs the opportunity to communicate to Tory audiences - many times larger than they'd reach at a supper club event, for example - without personally needing to post something daily.  Seven Tory MPs are now blogging at CentreRight: Douglas Carswell, Nigel Evans, Mark Field, Liam Fox, Greg Hands, David Lidington, and David Willetts.  Douglas and Greg, in particular, have become regular contributors.

The best three dedicated blogs from Tory parliamentarians are John Redwood, Nadine Dorries and Richard Spring.

PS Do take a look at Robert Colvile's articles, currently appearing on Platform.  He's writing a series of articles on the impact of politics and the internet.

Statement from Nigel Waterson MP

We have just received this statement from Mr Waterson's office regarding newspaper stories of a couple of weeks ago:

"The Police have now informed me that they are taking no further action in respect of the incident on 27th January.  This is a relief but no surprise - I had done nothing wrong and assaulted no-one.  I have not been charged with anything.  We are especially grateful to all those friends and colleagues who have expressed their support.  We have been very touched.  My family and I have been victims of heavy-handed policing and gross media intrusion.  Both matters are now the subject of official complaints to the Metropolitan Police and to the Press Complaints Commission.  I would ask for no further intrusion into our private family life.  I shall be making no further comment on these matters."

Comments have been disabled on this post.

Derek Conway to keep £13,000pa bonus job

If Britain's political establishment is looking for ways of regaining the public's trust they should look to restore the link between good conduct and status.  Extra transparency is welcome but more important is decisive action against those who do not meet basic standards of behaviour.  The failure of ineffective ministers to resign is an obvious source of disappointment.  Today, courtesy of The Independent, we learn that Derek Conway MP has kept a £13,000pa bonus that he receives from the taxpayer "as a member of the "chairmen's panel" appointed by the Speaker Michael Martin to oversee detailed debates on Bills."

Related link: David Cameron cannot be bold enough in increasing accountability of politicians

Friday 3pm: Sky is reporting that Mr Conway has now lost this position.

Cameron makes fresh demands of Conservative MPs on who they employ and for how much

Last week David Cameron ordered frontbenchers to declare if they employed relatives.  Within hours the Prime Minister was making similar noises.

The Tory leader is setting the pace again today - announcing fresh requirements for frontbenchers.  This is what Sky is reporting as 'breaking news':

"All front bench Tory MPs must name their staff, reveal the number of staff they employ, the position they fulfil and whether they work in Westminster or the constituency. If a Member of Parliament employs a member of their family, they should be separately declared, within a salary band which should also be declared."

Ben Brogan describes Mr Cameron's pace as "hare-like".  Indeed it is.  If the Conservative Party has a Clause IV issue then it concerns the behaviour of its MPs.  On Saturday Charles Moore talked about a problem of men, not measures.  In the last week David Cameron has shown he understands that voters are now unwilling to tolerate MPs with, as the Daily Mail delicately put it, 'snouts in the trough'.

3.45pm: Over at CentreRight.com Douglas Carswell MP argues that politics will only be restored with radical reform of parliament and accountability structures: "If we want a legislature with fewer vacuous soundbites and which actually holds the executive to account, we need to elect MPs willing to be more than cheerleaders."

7pm: Guido does not think that David Cameron is doing enough: "Why not list every item? Businesses don't put in VAT returns missing receipts for items under £250."

Ethical heroes and zeroes in the Sunday newspapers

Heroes....

Ben Wallace MP (although the hero status may be questioned by his colleagues) who has provided a comprehensive breakdown of his expenses in a release for The Sunday Times.  Two reactions:

• Ben Brogan: "His unilateral action will not endear him to some of his colleagues (not just Tories) who would rather we didn't know precisely how they spend the money we give them. It pre-empts any further steps David Cameron might choose to take. It is also way ahead of Gordon Brown who, beyond encouraging transparency, has yet to propose anything concrete. Mr Wallace has done the taxpayer a favour by coming clean and showing other MPs how it should be done. A small step in restoring his party's reputation."
• Alex Deane: "I am uncertain as to whether the prurient witch-hunts this may lead to, and the less flexible and attractive operative environment it would guarantee if adopted as a general approach, are good things."
  

Greg Hands MP for getting The Sunday Telegraph to cover the Prime Minister's apparent breach of rules on rent from constituency offices.  More here.

David Cameron orders frontbenchers to declare employment of relatives

Since the Conway story broke the News of the World has been leading the Sunday newspapers' hunt for more details of how many MPs pay their relatives.  We have no idea if they have discovered anything interesting...

David Cameron has this morning announced his own first policy response to the whole affair:

“As you know, Members of Parliament are responsible for employing their own staff. Earlier this week I asked to be told how many members of my parliamentary party employ family members and there are over 70.  I believe the public are right to demand more transparency and openness when it comes to MPs staff, pay, allowances and expenses. As a first step I will ensure that from the start of the new financial year (1st April 2008) all Conservative Front Bench MPs must declare if they employ family members in the Register of Members Interests. I hope all other Conservative MPs will follow suit.  This is the first in a number of steps we need to take to reassure people that Members of Parliament work hard for their constituents and are honest and open in their spending of public money.”

That seventy number is interesting - slightly more than a third of the parliamentary party.  There is, of course, nothing wrong with MPs employing relatives.  Most MPs work very long hours and at weekends.  Having a spouse manage the diary so that political and family commitments can be interwoven is just one reason why employing a wife or husband can make a lot of sense.

Mr Cameron's statement may not go far enough for many watchers, however.  He is requiring frontbenchers to declare if they employ relatives but he is not asking them to say how much they pay them.  The Chief Whip might have told him that that would provoke a mini-rebellion.

Related link: Contributions to the Commons debate on Derek Conway's misconduct

1pm: Brown copies the idea but extends it to all Labour MPs

Derek Conway to stand down at next General Election

Mr Conway has just issued this statement:

"I have had tremendous support from my local party, my family and friends but have concluded that it is time to step down.
 
"I stand by what I have said in relation to the report by the Commissioner of Standards and do not wish to add to those comments at this time.
 
"Since joining the Conservative Party nearly 40 years ago I have had the privilege of serving in public office since 1974 and have done so to the best of my ability.
 
"I have advised the Chief Whip and the chairman of my local Conservative Association that I shall not seek to continue as the Conservative Party Candidate for Old Bexley and Sidcup at the next election.
 
"Though not an original supporter of David Cameron for the leadership of my party, I believe that he has shown he has both the ability and the character to be Prime Minister of our country and I do not wish my personal circumstances to be a distraction in any way from the real issues that have to be addressed."

Derek Conway should now go quietly

Tim Montgomerie writes:

A final word on Derek Conway.

After turning down media for 24 hours I was happy to give a number of interviews this afternoon to welcome David Cameron's lunchtime decision and to contrast the actions taken by the Tory leader with Gordon Brown's indulgence of his many miscreant ministers.  One thing I said on the PM programme is, I think, worth repeating.  David Cameron has removed Mr Conway from the parliamentary party but has refused to rule out future rehabilitation.  "Never say never" the Tory leader told Radio 4.  Mr Cameron's reasonableness is understandable but Mr Conway really should do the decent thing now and tell Old Bexley and Sidcup Tories that he won't be seeking to be their candidate at the next election.

Voters understand what Mr Conway did and they really, really don't like it.  If he stands at the next election I wouldn't be surprised if he faced the kind of anti-sleaze candidate that Neil Hamilton faced in 1997.   Such a candidate might easily win the seat.  What's worse it would be a soap opera that would play throughout the next General election campaign.  Mr Conway should do his party one final service and move quickly to admit that his political career is over.

PS I can't say very much about Nigel Waterson MP for legal reasons but I'd ask all readers to give him the benefit of the doubt.  What I've been told about last night's incident has made me respect the man more than I have ever done before.  Please don't leave speculative comments in the thread below... I'd probably have to delete them.

Derek Conway loses the Conservative Whip

David Cameron says:

"The usual procedure in these cases is to leave the punishment to the House of Commons authorities, however, having asked the Chief Whip to speak again to Mr Conway and having personally reflected overnight I have decided to withdraw the Conservative Whip from Mr Conway."

This is the right action to take, and whilst it could have been taken yesterday Cameron has still been much more decisive on it than Brown was on Hain.

2.40pm: The Telegraph notes that Conway is likely to remain suspended permanently:

"Although the decision is technically a suspension rather than an expulsion, senior Conservative sources said it was unlikely that Mr Conway would ever return to the parliamentary party."

Nick Robinson on why Cameron decided not to act against Conway

Nick Robinson's explanation of David Cameron's decision not to withdraw the whip gets, ConservativeHome understands, very close to the full truth: "Conway is a popular Tory MP who looked set to be his party's Chief Whip if David Davis had become Conservative leader. He was even talked of as a possible Speaker. Although David Cameron might be tempted to make an example of him he would be taking on a powerful coalition consisting of those who never wanted him to be leader plus the parliamentary old guard who regard questions about their allowances as challenging the assumption that all MPs are "honourable members" until proven otherwise."

11.15am: Simon Chapman asks three pertinent questions.

Cameron makes the wrong choice on Conway

The earlier thread on Derek Conway was very interesting.  There was an almost universal wish to see our party take firm action against him.  There was a yearning for the party to take decisive action against behaviour that would not be tolerated in any other walk of life.

Unfortunately the doves around the Tory leader have prevailed and the following statement was issued by CCHQ earlier this evening:

“Derek Conway has apologised fully on the floor of the House of Commons and the Whip has not been withdrawn. The appropriate punishment is being administered.”

CCHQ are identifying Labour MPs that have not had the whip withdrawn when they have been suspended by the House.  That leaves us on the same level as Labour then.  Great.

Ben Brogan, Political Editor of the Daily Mail, gets it right over at his blog:

"I defy anyone reading this report not to conclude that Mr Conway is guilty of behaviour that is incompatible with being an MP. MPs frequently complain when we report critically their habit of voting themselves pay rises and extra allowances. Yet here we have an example of MPs standing by when one of their number pulls a fast one on the taxpayer. I have reason to believe that the revelations about Mr Conway are about to get worse, which will then leave Mr Cameron facing some difficult choices."

The next time David Cameron rises at PMQs to attack sleaze within the Government Labour MPs will only have to shout 'Derek Conway' back at him to blunt his attack.  Unlike Brown Mr Cameron did not dither.  He needed just a few hours to decide what to do about Mr Conway.  He was decisive but decisively wrong.

Related link: Alex Deane over at CentreRight also supports decisive action.

8am, 29 January: When Ben Brogan wrote: "I have reason to believe that the revelations about Mr Conway are about to get worse," we now know what he had in mind...

Today's Mail suggests that Mr Conway may also have paid his older son from parliamentary allowances whilst he was at university.

Over at the Parliament pages we have published the full text of Mr Conway's apology to the Commons.

Ten day suspension likely for Derek Conway MP

Breaking news over at BBC Online: "A complaint that Tory MP Derek Conway wrongly paid his son MP allowances has been upheld by MPs on the Commons Standards and Privileges committee.  Mr Conway is accused of paying his son Freddie to work part-time as a researcher while at university.  The committee recommends that the MP is suspended for 10 Commons sitting days.  Mr Conway told the committee that his son worked an average of 17 hours a week for him and that he did not infringe the staffing allowance rules."

3pm: Robert Winnett explains how Google was used to find this out, and asks why Parliamentary authorities block access to details about MPs' staff.

Should MPs vote for above-inflation pay increases?

This morning's FT reports that Gordon Brown and David Cameron are both urging their MPs to reject above-inflation pay increases for themselves.  If previous research is to be believed then Conservative MPs are the least likely to be accommodating.

There seem to be a number of issues here (in no particular order):

• The recommendation of higher pay comes from an independent review body.  Shouldn't that body's advice be accepted?
• If MPs vote for above-inflation pay increases, where does that leave the Government's attempts to restrict wider public sector pay settlements?
• Over the years MPs' pay has fallen behind the pay of public sector employees that they were once ranked alongside.
• MPs' pensions are widely regarded as amongst the best in the world.
• There is no shortage of people wanting to be MPs but are we attracting MPs of sufficient quality?
• Only one-third of ex-MPs are able to secure higher salaries for themselves.
• Tory MPs, in particular, have many outside paid interests.  Would these interests continue if pay was increased significantly or would they continue on the same scale?
• Should a new pay settlement be part of a wider reconsideration of MPs' allowances?
• Should MPs be allowed to employ members of their families?
• Should MPs be voting on their own pay at all?

Is Alex Salmond Britain's most useless MP?

Scotland's First Minister is under fire today from Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser.  Research by the Scottish Conservatives is being well reported north of the border, including by the BBC and The Herald.   The Scottish party has calculated that the MP for Banff & Buchan has participated in just four votes out of a possible 149 since 8th May.

Murdo issued the following statement:

“We warned before the elections that if Alex Salmond became the MSP for Gordon then the constituency would be saddled with a part-time MSP, dividing his time between London and Edinburgh. The reality is that it is his Westminster territory of Banff & Buchan which has suffered. He must be the most useless MP in the House of Commons, in terms of attendance and actual work done for his constituents.

People in Banff and Buchan did not vote for Alex Salmond in 2005 with the view that he would go on to completely ignore them. He is treating them with contempt and with the Prime Minister now having bottled a General Election, it is likely they will have to put up with another two and a half years of this nonsense.  Alex Salmond should do the decent thing and resign as an MP. He would still be left with two jobs to do – a constituency MSP and First Minister of Scotland, which should be more than enough for his ego.  The current tally of three is most definitely a crowd and I hope that if he truly does care about people in Banff & Buchan he will pave the way for a by-election in the very near future. As it currently stands, there is no hard-working MP for Banff and Buchan, which is the least that any constituency deserves.”

Related links: Signs of warmth between the SNP and Scotland's Tories but also Scottish Tory leader supports cross-party Commission to discuss 'Stage Two' of devolution

'There's nothing so ex- as an ex-MP'

Research undertaken at the University of Leeds reveals that many ex-MPs struggle to prosper after life in the Commons.

The Daily Mail's reporting of the findings is typically trenchant.  Under a story entitled The Unemployables, correspondent Steve Doughty writes:

"A careers advice company cited in the report warned that a high percentage of former MPs 'were commercially unemployable at senior management level'.  Only a handful of them could command salaries in the business world that matched their Westminster wages, it added. A high proportion of those who do find work get places on quangos."

Some MPs want to be paid more - particularly Conservative MPs.  Sir John Butterfill has even called for a 66% increase.  The Mail believes that this report suggests they're far from worth it: "MPs are fond of complaining that they're worth far more than they're paid.  Isn't the truth the exact opposite?"

ConservativeHome columnist Cameron Watt has proposed a £100,000pa salary for MPs but only if they work full-time.

5.45pm: Also revealed today was a 5% increase in MPs expenses to £87.6m. Sky has the story.  The best value MP is the Conservative Philip Hollobone.

7pm: This just in from The TaxPayers' Alliance:

"Expenses per MP (ex. all travel):

1 Conservative £123,370
2 Labour £128,439
3 SNP £129,337
4 Lib Dem £130,589
5 Plaid Cymru £132,144

Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:

“Conservative MPs should be proud that their average expenses are lower than the other political parties.  However, their expense claims have still gone up by around 7 per cent, far more than inflation, so there is still room for improvement.  Plaid Cymru MPs should go to the back of the class.”

Tory MPs lead calls for higher pay

An ICM/ DODS polling survey of all MPs for The House Magazine finds that 61% think that they are paid too little.  The chart above - the numbers coloured according to traditional party identification - show that Tory MPs are least satisfied with their remuneration.  79% of Tory MPs think they are paid too little compared to just 52% of Labour MPs (many more of whom probably saw their pay rise when they entered the Commons).

2% of MPs thought their current £60,675pa was too much.  34% thought it about right.

The most keen for a higher salary were new MPs.  83% of the 2005 intake wanted more pay.

The survey also found that three-quarters of MPs identified constituency work as their most important responsibility.

Related link: Sir John Butterfill MP leads calls for 66% pay rise for MPs.