Relatively Working For MPs
So Derek Conway has resigned. He really had no choice after the revelations that he had employed both of his sons at the taxpayer’s expense for minimal work, and Cameron withdrew the whip from him. Personally, I appreciate Iain Dale’s stance on Derek Conway: he’s a friend, so anything he wants to he’ll say to Derek’s face. Simple human decency. It appears to be a dying breed.
But after the furore that has risen around Conway, there appears to be suggestions to ban MPs from employing family members. Really, this is a very bad and frankly stupid idea. So long as the relative is doing the job they are paid to do [and properly], I can’t see any reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to do so. Rather, we the taxpayer are likely to get more work of - and thus better value for money - from MPs relatives working for them than a non-relative on the same level of pay.
There is also a large number of administrative issues with this idea, as pointed out on the Three Line Whip blog:
What about those who employ the man or woman with whom they cohabit?
How will it be possible to tell whether they are in a family relationship?
What about gay MPs employing their partners. Would they be affected by a ban on family employment?
Or why is it right to employ a close friend but not a wife, though the latter does bring the income into the household?
What happens if an MP marries his secretary, not an uncommon occurrence at Westminster? Should he then sack her?
Rather than a blanket ban, it would be far better to instead make it necessary that all MPs declare all employees with whom they have a blood or legal relationship with, what the relationship is - and how much they are paying them to do the job. You could also say that any relatives should only be paid at the bottom of the advised parliamentary pay scale for their role.
A blanket ban on all MP relatives working for them, however, is a very bad idea indeed. Instead of banning it, just make the process transparent.
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I blogged this morning about the same subject. It seems ridiculous to ban all family members because one MP is a crook - why don’t they increase the punishments for this kind of behaviour and increase the transparency for MP’s expenses?
Really, this is a very bad and frankly stupid idea. So long as the relative is doing the job they are paid to do [and properly], I can’t see any reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to do so.
I’m a great fan of nepotism - at least you know what you’re getting.