Help Commons man
TISSUES & BORIS ISSUES Labour leader’s first job is caring for their staff
NOTHING’S too good for the workers. Right? Wrong, if you happen to be working for an MP in the Commons.
It may sound like a cosy job, working in Parliament, but the decades-long low moan about conditions is turning into a growling rumble.
This, don’t you know, is a Royal Palace. Normal rules don’t apply – from prices in the bars to workers’ rights to the fact that you’re not allowed to die here. Officially, that is – only the monarch’s death can be registered in the Palace of Westminster.
Mere mortals – or ex-mortals as may be – presumably must be dragged, preferably not kicking and screaming, beyond the perimeter before being pronounced no longer of this world.
Metaphorically this applies to MPS, who have been kicking, if not screaming, against efforts to bring the real world inside the perimeter as far as their staff are concerned.
Among inmates with ongoing life expectancies there is trouble at mill. After years of complaining about pay and conditions, the staff of MPS have decided to plant their discontent firmly at the feet of the person they think, presumably, can do something about it – the next Labour leader.
Union members, led by Unite boss Len Mccluskey – Jeremy Corbyn’s old mate – have written to all remaining candidates in the leadership contest, with two months to go, appealing for a promise of action.
Their letter calls on all the Labour contenders to support staffers’ campaigns on
SOMETHING funny happened on the way to the Strangers’ Bar.
A telepathic message told me the best treatment for an incessant cold would be a whisky mac – a sort of hot toddy without the sugary bits.
Only one other customer, a Tory MP, had ever ordered one, I a range of measures to improve working conditions.
Outrageously, they want formal recognition of the union, which would mean it could negotiate pay rates and terms and conditions – an ability that is currently denied.
The group of approximately 500 workers, who are fully cross-party, also want “rootand-branch reform” that would see a “fully funded and supportive HR system for staff of MPS” introduced. A framework for dealing
with harassment,
POLLING guru John Curtice climbed the narrow stairs to one of Westminster’s lofty gothic towers to share a few thoughts with political journalists on life after Brexit.
Asked what Labour had to do to get back to power, or even credibility, he delivered a sobering tip: stop worrying about the nitty-gritty of party policy and concentrate efforts on being an effective Opposition to Boris.
Leadership contenders take note? was told. Guess who, teased the barman.
“So and so,” I said, without hesitation.
No specific reason. Just a totally random guess.
Nobody was more flabbergasted than me when told I was spot on. Then – a bullying and sexual abuse would enforce tougher sanctions.
“The Labour Party,” says the missive, “should be at the forefront of this call for change.”
Last year, the budget set by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority offered MPS a pay increase of 2.7 per cent while the staffing budget rose by just 1.5 per cent.
Branch chair Max Freedman said workers were “treated with contempt throughout the process” of negotiation.
The problem is that MPS are a law unto themselves. They are effectively moment later – a text arrived out of the blue from said MP, suggesting a chat about life under Boris.
Spooky.
I can’t wait to hear what the knighted grandee has to say.
So maybe I’ll just stay tuned to the ether. small businesses, setting disparate pay and conditions across the board. If they were in the real world, many would be liable to action by the authorities.
But our representatives are too busy making laws for the rest of us to clear up their own backyard.
It won’t ever be bad enough to dissuade the young researchers, assistants and advisers from following their desired career path of becoming MPS themselves.
Talks will be held between MPS and the House authorities to work out a solution. Could it be the first triumph of the new Labour leader?