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A question for you scallywags and ne'er-do-wells.

Discussion in 'Serious' started by Kronos, 10 Sep 2013.

  1. Kronos

    Kronos Multimodder

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    Did you get paid by your employer whilst you were in prison?

    Up here in sunless Scotland the Scottish Parliament will debate plans today to cut MSPs’ salaries by 90% while they are in prison. Story.

    Which would mean, if it was passed and there is no guarantee of that as are political leaders are not keen on shafting their own, an MSP in prison would still get upwards of five grand a year whilst a guest of her majesty's prison service.

    I was stunned to find out that MSP's were paid in full if they were sent to jail and wondered how this sort of thing is agreed to in the first place. I cannot remember,prior to the Scottish Parliament being set up, hearing anyone mention this was part of the deal.

    Honesty, integrity seems less and less important aspect of behaviour these days, everywhere you turn, bankers, BBC executives, politicians seem to live by a totally different set of rules than the rest of us.
     
  2. steveo_mcg

    steveo_mcg What's a Dremel?

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    I think I understand why they are not automatically ejected from their seat should they be prosecuted and found guilty. The rules were set in, and probably maintained for, less stable times. If you could get rid of an elected member simply by sending them to jail then the cabinet could legally get rid of all opposition not just opposition parties. Or something to that effect. By the same token theoretically an MP could still represent his or her constituents from prison, hell some are so rarely in the commons they might as well be, I mean this in rather more extreme times than we face now thus why the rules state they still get paid.

    I'm not condoning Mr Walker, just suggesting the rules must be broad enough to cope with more than just our fairly settled period in history.
     
  3. Guinevere

    Guinevere Mega Mom

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    The whole system is corrupt, and the older I get the more I think the ancient Athenians had it right and we should move over to Sortition (selection of leaders by random lottery).

    As to MPs in the prison. Maybe the real question isn't "Why should we have to pay them when they are in prison?" but "How do we lock more of them up for the crimes and corruptions they commit every day?"
     
  4. RTT

    RTT #parp

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    I imagine it goes something like this

    MPs: We want to be paid while we're in prison! All in favour?
    MPs: Aye!
    MPs: :clap:
     
  5. Kronos

    Kronos Multimodder

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    I think you will not be far from the truth with that.
     
  6. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    "Good grief Barrington, I love this job. We can make up the rules as we go along!"
    "Here here, good show"
    "Order.... order."
     
  7. Pete J

    Pete J Employed scum

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    Do all MPs get paid whilst in prison?

    Shocking. If an MP gets sent to jail he/she ought to be dismissed on the spot.
     
  8. Ozzie

    Ozzie Fork 'andles I wanted

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    Why should they be paid while in prison, nobody pays me:)
     
  9. Kronos

    Kronos Multimodder

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    What nobody paid you whilst you were in prison? That is a shame.lol.
     
  10. Cthippo

    Cthippo Can't mod my way out of a paper bag

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    Nixon, well, actually his staff since Nixon probably didn't know about it yet, tried to get the CIA to pay the Watergate burglar's salaries while they were in jail
     
  11. julianmartin

    julianmartin resident cyborg.

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    I always assumed that a criminal record on the job meant automatic dismissal or enforced resignation for a MP. That's generally what happens in most other jobs that have even a whiff of responsibility.
     
  12. Ozzie

    Ozzie Fork 'andles I wanted

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    Kronos, "What nobody paid you whilst you were in prison? That is a shame.lol."

    Did you get paid then:)
     
  13. Kronos

    Kronos Multimodder

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    I cannot answer until I have spoken with my MP at visiting time.
     
  14. Tynecider

    Tynecider Since ZX81

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    HEAR HEAR!!!! :D
     
  15. Ozzie

    Ozzie Fork 'andles I wanted

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    You visiting him or vice versa:)
     
  16. Porkins' Wingman

    Porkins' Wingman Can't touch this

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    In the modern world image and marketing is everything. It's comparatively easier to achieve influence, status and money by selling the idealised visions of honesty, integrity, decency etc. than it is by actually leading an honest, decent life.

    As children we suck up the portrayal of real-life and fictional characters we're fed by our elders - everyone wants their child to somehow be shielded from the corruptions of the world, so they promote characters who are seen as honest, decent etc. as role models for us. As naive children we take those representations and construct a model in our heads of the type of decent person we should therefore strive to be. The problem is that those models we build are based on incomplete data - there's no way of knowing everything about another person - and in reality nobody is perfect, so the ideals in our heads are destined to be shattered.

    The classic example is of a mother who, growing up was sold the dream of marriage and monogamy but is then cheated on by her husband. As a result she tries even harder to instill in her son the ideals of monogamy so that he won't follow in his father's ways, always vocalising her disapproval whenever news of another celebrity affair breaks etc. She shows support for her son's liking of certain male role models that appear to live up to her image of a decent man, only for it to eventually emerge that that role model was in fact capable of adultery too. True story.

    This idea that corruption etc. is more prevalent than ever is hard to prove. Corruption stories sell News so when they're uncovered we all hear about it, more now than ever, but people were never perfect. With law comes an assumption of adherence to that law, but as the amount of legislation our lives are subject to grows almost exponentially, we're all living in a fog of law and can only hope people are obeying it because there's too darn much of it to ever be sure there's not someone breaking a law somewhere. I believe there's a positive correlation between the amount of law and the amount of corruption/dishonest behaviour.

    All rules are man-made and designed to favour one person's interests over another's. In some circles Law is held up as a pinnacle of civilization, but ultimately societies depend on Law, and that will always be their inevitable downfall. The quickest way to abolish corruption is to abolish all Law.
     

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