HOW MUCH MONEY DOES AN MP NEED?
A handful of British MPs have defamed and damaged democratic culture being too greedy to amass money working and lobbying for the private companies. This is morally and legally wrong. The MPs make laws and regulations, policies and programmes and they are helping directly or indirectly to the companies who are paying them. Their greed reminds us the story of “how much land does a man need?”
Russian writer Leo Tolstoy critically reflected on the hierarchy of 19th century Russian society where poor people were deprived and the rich people became richer and richer. The greed of the main character Pahom is clearly revealed, as he wanted to accumulate a lot of land despite owning remarkable plots of land. Personal property, belongings and physical prosperity were the main measurements of a person’s value and that determined social status in those days. Pahom died while trying to accumulate more and more land beyond his need because of his greed, and he needed only six feet land to bury his body.
Despite the different society today, some of the British MPs are facing the fate of Pahom in the 21st century. How power, position, and their greed make politicians poor in their judgement is clearly reflected in the Parliament. British Members of Parliament earn over £80,000 a year, which is nearly more than two-thirds salary of a public service officer (an average earning of a graduate degree level job). The MPs can also claim allowances to cover other costs. An MP represents from nearly 60,000 to over 100,000 people depending on the size of constituency. MPs are elected to represent the people of their constituency, to be their voice and bring policies and programmes for the people living in poverty and facing difficulties. MPs also need to attend parliament session, which sits on an average 150 days a year. However, some MPs are found to have lobbied for the companies they are working and being paid.
Some MPs especially the ruling Conservative Party have made millions of pounds of income every year working and lobbying for private companies. These MPs have used their privileged position to gratify their greed. They do not seem to have realised what the great philosophers Socrates said: “He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.” It is exactly true in the case of some of the MPs.
MP Owen Paterson lobbied on behalf of companies and ‘amassed nearly half a million pound’ and another MP Sir Geoffrey Cox used MP’s office to carry out private work for the British Virgin Islands inquiry earning ‘more than £ £700,000 for advising the inquiry’ alone according to the media reports. Mr Paterson was forced to resign and facing the charges.
Members of Parliament make laws and regulations so they should be legally and morally clean, transparent and honest. Elected politicians are the representatives of the people so they should present examples of good values so that society becomes corruption free. How can they work for private companies when they have to be busy in their constituency and represent such a number of people? How can they be the voice of their voters when they spend time to benefit private companies? What examples of goodness can they present?
Whether it is the war for power in the Mahabharata or the greed of the wealthy Ahab in the Biblical story or the stories of morality and values in the past or present, history tells us greed degrades society and promotes the culture of corruption. Whether it is in mythology or reality, we have been the witness how those consumed by greed and blinded by lust for power have created horrifying havoc in families, societies, communities and countries. Greed, anger and lust are said to be the three gates leading to the hell of self-destruction.
“Whatever action is performed by a leader, common men follow in his footsteps, and whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues,” states the Bhagavad Gita. The MPs are the leaders in their constituencies and should be able to set excellent positive moral and legal models to the people they represent. Moreover, the corruptions of the Westminster sets negative examples in many countries around the globe where this country is known as the mother of democracy.
