Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to ban MPs’ second jobs is a recipe for hiking their taxpayer-funded salaries and driving expertise out of Westminster, it was claimed last night.
Sources close to Sir Keir confirmed a Labour government would seek to outlaw MPs having outside jobs.
The few exceptions would include letting doctors and nurses continue their work – but not MPs who are lawyers.
The long-promised ban comes amid calls for MPs to stick to representing their constituents, and claims that they are well enough paid at £86,584.
However, senior Tories branded it ‘virtue-signalling’ and warned that cutting outside earnings would lead to salaries being increased.
Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to ban MPs’ second jobs is a recipe for hiking their taxpayer-funded salaries and driving expertise out of Westminster, it was claimed last night
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said that the move would lead to a ‘professional cadre of politicians removed from the rest of society’.
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said that the move would lead to a ‘professional cadre of politicians removed from the rest of society’.
He also told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Voters should be free to send to Parliament and re-elect to Parliament whoever they want. If they don’t want people who have outside earnings, they won’t vote for them.’
Sir Jacob added: ‘It will reduce expertise in the Commons because you simply will not get top-rank lawyers who have long been able to carry on with their outside interests without affecting their parliamentary activities.’
But one Labour MP said: ‘Many people will rightly think that being an MP is a full-time job, especially if you’re paid £86,000 a year for the privilege.’