Give ’em A Break!
Recently, it seems as though the newspapers have been full of stories of
freebies, fashion, and football matches. This is in relation to some donations and gifts that the Prime Minister and his family have enjoyed.
Then there have been accusatory articles about the salary of the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff. It now transpires that her income surpasses that of the PM. But what I think we really should be considering is not so much how much senior civil servants are paid, but the relatively modest amount our Prime Minister is paid.
... what I think we really should be considering is not so much how much senior civil servants are paid, but the relatively modest amount our Prime Minister is paid.
Review Their Pay
Although I would not advocate paying senior politicians a rate commensurate to hedge fund managers or international CEOs, I think that they would be far less subject to financial concerns – possibly even corruption – if they were paid in line with their talents and responsibilities.
Of course there would be an uproar about such pay awards. It would underline the feeling that politicians are out of touch with ordinary people; yet the fact is politicians are not ordinary people. They are elected to represent ordinary people, but they are not necessarily ordinary people themselves. The mere fact that they are elected politicians, one of 650 Members of Parliament, or one of a select group of government ministers means that they are not the same as ‘the man in the street’.
Why should Lady Starmer not be given clothes by the top designers – preferably those from the UK, or Commonwealth? She is likely to receive more publicity and the clothing to be more recognised than they would be at any number of elite fashion shows. If leading politicians, with the profile they receive, can show off the best of British produce, then surely that is a benefit to Brand GB?
The same argument must surely apply to football matches and theatre shows. Why shouldn’t the Prime Minister, members of the cabinet, the leader of the opposition and the shadow cabinet have an opportunity to have a Plus One at any of these places (with appropriate arrangements made around security)? Surely there should be some perks to the job – and again it provides an opportunity to show off what we have to offer in the UK.
how much are we willing to pay for Net Zero? Will we manage to reform the NHS, to make sure it gives value for money? Are we going to sort our deplorable social care, or will we just pay for it through the expensive back door of hospital beds being occupied by those without a care plan?
What Are the Real Challenges Facing the UK?
There are some real challenges ahead for this government – some opportunities as well – and these are the things which our media should scrutinise. 
For example, how much are we willing to pay for Net Zero? Will we manage to reform the NHS, to make sure it gives value for money? Are we going to sort our deplorable social care, or will we just pay for it through the expensive back door of hospital beds being occupied by those without a care plan? Are we willing to intervene in complex issues overseas, or we happy just to receive those who suffer as they arrive on our shores, whether legally or otherwise? These are some of the questions which are the most pressing. There are much more important issues for newspapers to grapple with than what the Prime Minister and his family wears or goes to see.
At FaithAction, we believe that faith has a vital role to play in coming up with solutions to these knotty issues. We think that some of these issues are so fundamental to the UK that it will take more than public spending and government decisions to deal with; rather, we believe that it will take partnership between faith communities and civil society to get to grips with them. Faith is not just for crisis, but if we don’t engage in gritty interactions about what can be done, we risk crises on any number of fronts. It will feel as though “we have been here before”, because we have. This is why we are calling upon the government to form partnerships, grow relationships between its different branches, and with faith organisations.
And on the matter of what is in the headlines, we don’t believe faith has much to say on what clothes Lady Starmer wears, but we do support brand UK.
