but anyway, I think plenty of other people in powerful positions also use allowances and expenses to snidely top up their salary - that in no way excuses MP's.Martin Bell did once I think, cant think of any other or any sitting MP's!
They're also paid a lot more than most headteachers. The headteachers who get paid more are those who head up inner London secondaries that are coming out of special measures, and then the wage depends on the size of the school.
If an MP has extra duties (like a headteacher having extra work because of the kind of school), then the MP is paid more.
It's a crap comparison, but it's one I saw a columnist in the Independent make the other day. He even had the gall to suggest that the wage is so low that it puts ordinary people off the job and only people who are already millionaires can afford to subsist on it.
That columnist should get a little more experience of the real world before he's ever given the chance to write another column or, indeed, offer his opinion in any sphere whatsoever.
Are you him?
Others don't set the tax laws to make sure those expenses are exempt from the taxman.
Err, me for a start. When I'm away on site I can claim for reasonable meal claims (limits on alcohol and expected to be reasonable). When I was up in Manchester last year I was staying in a hired apartment and was claiming for food because that was cheaper than going out each night. When I put those claims in it had to be a full receipt and explain roughly how many meals it provided, so I couldn't kick the backside out of it.
