Opinion

The EDP says...Don’t like MPs having second jobs? Then you can have your say - at the ballot box

The House of Commons. Picture: PA

For many people, £9,000 per month is a salary they could only dream of.

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L to R Norman Lamb, Henry Bellingham and Clive Lewis L to R Norman Lamb, Henry Bellingham and Clive Lewis

But as the Register of Members’ Financial Interests shows, for some MPs that is merely a part-time top-up to the £74,962 salary they get in parliament.

To many people who struggle to fit their home lives around work, the fact MPs even have the time for another job seems confusing.

We are often told that being an MP is one of the toughest and most demanding jobs one can do, as well as how it requires working much longer hours than a nine-to-five day.

The fact they have time to accept gifts of visits to the Grand National and extra jobs on top of their work seems at odds with this.

But then there are others who say that the very nature of an MP’s role is to have a good understanding of the wider world - and many politicians believe extra experience in the private sector gives them this.

Wherever you stand on the issue, the thing that must never suffer is a parliamentarians’ dedication to their constituency.

No-one expects them to work 24-seven and if they want to use their spare time to earn extra money, no-one can stop them.

However the moment they spend time that they should be representing voters on extra interests, people start to notice.

And ultimately, you do have the final say about your MP and what he or she earns - at the ballot box.