MPs wannabe rich

OUR MPS want parity with GPs so they've put in a 66% pay claim that would take their salaries to £100,000 a year. As Paul Kenny of the GMB union said, it is disgraceful that "MPs should get ten times the national minimum wage - especially after supporting the imposition of a 3% cap on public sector workers' pay rise.

"These people enjoy large allowances and expenses. This year they protected their own pension scheme but cut those of the lowest-paid workers. How out of touch can they get?" he asked.

The Socialist Party says that in order not to lose touch with workers, public representatives should receive only the wage of a skilled worker. Dave Nellist was Labour MP for Coventry South East from 1983 to 1992. A supporter of Militant, the socialist's predecessor, Dave was known as a workers' MP on a worker's wage. He took only the wage of a skilled factory worker, less than half of what other MPs took for themselves.

Labour has changed a lot since those days but who can doubt which example most workers would rather see their representatives follow?