Members of Parliament have quietly been handed a pay rise to over £90,000.

At a time when we are all suffering the cost of living crisis, they are getting an above-inflation rise from £86k to £91,346.

We are calling on MPs not to accept this pay rise.

MPs’ pay has increased by 39% since 2010, at a time when most people’s wages have barely risen and public sector pay was held down.

When asked about this, some MPs hide behind the independent body IPSA, which has set their pay since the MPs’ expenses scandal. But each and every MP has the option to refuse to take a pay rise or to donate it to charity.

We say MPs have a moral duty to turn down this £4,700 pay rise.

Home secretary Suella Braverman has called the demonstrations “hate marches”, while prime minister Rishi Sunak has claimed that there is a risk that “war memorials could be desecrated” during protests – without any evidence.

The government has also claimed that flying a Palestine flag may be considered a crime and even said it could use its powers to ban marches.

Plans for a new legal definition of extremism also target pro-Palestinian groups – powers Amnesty says could “criminalise dissent”.

As Israel’s war on Gaza claims thousands of lives every week, we need to defend the right to call for a ceasefire now and the right to march for peace.

They plan to cram in 500 refugees into the barge – even though it was only designed for 200 people.

The Home Office claims it is not a prison or detention facility – but residents will “not be free to move around the port”. The Refugee Council says people will be held in “detention-like conditions”.

When the barge was used previously in other countries, human rights campaigners found appalling conditions on board, and in the Netherlands in 2008 one person died. Freedom From Torture called the barge “cruel and inhumane” and “a catastrophe waiting to happen”.

The Bibby Stockholm barge and its owner Bibby Line even take their name from founder John Bibby, who was involved in slavery in the 19th century.

The government claims that the barge is a money-saving measure, but it has paid a private company a massive £1.6 billion to manage the barges, so savings are deeply unlikely. Their real purpose is performative cruelty.

If the government wanted to save money, it would dedicate resources to processing the backlog of asylum applications, instead of paying to keep people waiting in limbo for years.

The barge is just another effort to scapegoat refugees for the economic crisis caused by Tory policies.

Nurses and other healthcare workers are working flat out every day to keep hospitals running. But despite all the government’s praise and claps for them during the pandemic, it refuses to pay them properly.  

On 15 December, 100,000 nurses in the Royal College of Nursing are on strike across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This comes after government ministers point-blank refused to negotiate.

Nursing salaries have fallen behind the cost of living for a decade. The pay rise they are asking for is really only enough to begin to catch up with inflation, after years of pay cuts once inflation is taken into account.

There is another way: the strikes are not happening in Scotland because the Scottish government listened to nurses and made a better pay offer.

We all owe healthcare workers a huge debt of gratitude and we need to pay them in a way that will make a real difference in their lives: a substantial pay rise. 

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I’m a nurse and work well over my contracted hours every week. I’m exhausted and struggling to make ends meet as a single mum.

Serena, Lincolnshire

Years of capped pay rises make it almost impossible for NHS workers to have a fair standard of living.

Bob, Oxford

Nurses are long overdue a pay rise, particularly given the hard conditions, long hours and extra stress throughout the Covid pandemic, where their dedication did not falter.

Deborah, Denbighshire

We have to value those who work for the good of society.

Christine, Bournemouth

The protest was all legal and agreed with the police, but organisers were arrested on their arrival. It is the latest in a series of state over-reaches trying to stop awkward questions about the UK’s new, unelected head of state.

Protesters were previously arrested holding up a sign saying “abolish monarchy” and for shouting out about the new king: “who elected him?” This is an attack on everyone’s democratic rights.

The cost of the coronation has swelled up to £250 million – money that could have been spent on tackling the cost of living crisis we all face.

There are many big questions over King Charles’ conduct going back years, from his ‘spider memos’ attempting to improperly influence government policy to £2.5 million he accepted in actual bags of cash from a Qatari politician.

The attempts to shut down debate about the issue are a disgrace when you consider that the majority of 18-24 year olds believe we should abolish the monarchy. To the new generation, all this fawning and deference looks absurd. In the whole population, Charles’ popularity rating is just 54%.

It’s time to move on from the feudal age and abolish the monarchy.

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I didn’t have any strong feelings about the monarchy before, but if people are being arrested for peaceful protest against it, it needs to go – we are not living in the Middle Ages!

Ian, Suffolk

Why should one family have so much, simply because they’re born with luck, whilst the rest of us struggle to make ends meet one year to the next and have to look on longingly?

Jenny, Stafford

The monarchy is an expensive, unnecessary, and fundamentally unfair institution with no real purpose.

Julie, Hertfordshire

We are a democracy, outrageous behaviour arresting a protester!

Suki, Portsmouth

It is not right that we as the people do not have a say on who is our head of state and on the UK becoming a republic. The monarchy are unelected, outdated and we shouldn’t be stopped from protesting and making our feelings known on the issue. That is not democratic.

Amy, Thurrock

The royal family has been mired in scandal over the years, yet it is unaccountable and, apparently, above the law. I find this unacceptable and out of place in the 21st century.

Veronica, Bury

I think at a time of such hardship for so many people in the UK it’s absurd to have this undemocratic and outmoded institution still in existence. Abolish the monarchy!

Steven, Glasgow

Monarchy sits at the heart of and perpetuates our iniquitous class system. We’ll never be able to develop a fair society when power sits in the hands of people born into it – it’s an anachronism.

Karen, Suffolk

The plan is modelled on Australia’s brutal network of offshore camps – widely condemned by human rights groups as at least 12 people died and many more suffered abuse.

According to Human Rights Watch, detainees in Rwanda have suffered from ill-treatment and even torture. The UN refugee agency UNHCR has also criticised the plan, saying it does not support any plans to transfer refugees offshore.

The scheme will also cost over £120 million – enough money to give every refugee in Britain a decent life, instead of spending it on imprisoning them.

It is the latest version of government plans that have failed multiple times before with various possible offshore detention locations, from the remote, volcanic Ascension Island to the use of disused ferries as prison ships.

This plan manages to combine being inhumane and cruel with being unworkable. It must be dropped immediately, this time for good.

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The refugees are not doing anything wrong and should not be ‘punished’ for seeking refuge. They should be treated with humanity and respect. One day this could be us.

Sheila, Newport

This is inhumane, logistically complicated, not cost effective and a nod back to the dark and shameful days of our colonial past. Not in my name.

Nick, Leicestershire

I grew up in Australia, and I know exactly how this goes. It’s a lot harder to close the camps once they’re opened, which is why they need to be stopped now.

Liam, Leeds

The in-country detention centres are bad enough. God alone knows what these would be like when there is very little way for them to be properly scrutinised or examined at such a distance.

Lyn, Berwickshire

And it’s not just about lobbying. Geoffrey Cox MP has just declared a £400,000 a year second job as a lawyer. No wonder he has only spoken in the House of Commons in one debate this whole year!

Enough is enough. As the sleaze scandals grow, it’s time to ban the whole practice of MPs having second jobs. Support is growing for this.

MPs sometimes talk about second jobs as if they are providing an extra service to the community. But when you look down the list, you can see these ‘side hustles’ have become an open door for corruption, and for neglect of their parliamentary duties.

No company pays £100,000 for a few days’ work unless they are getting something else into the bargain.

Owen Paterson was found to have “repeatedly” used his position as an MP to benefit two companies who paid him £100,000 a year. The parliamentary standards watchdog called it “an egregious case of paid advocacy”.

The government changed the rules to let him off the hook – until being forced to U-turn in the face of public outrage.

Being an MP is a full time job with a salary of over £80,000. Good MPs are always talking about how busy they are and how there are not enough hours in the day to help everyone. We need every MP to be 100% focused on their job – being an MP.

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This is the most corrupt government in my lifetime and they are busy changing the rules to give them more power to do whatever they want.

Lisa, Sussex

It is important that we can trust our MPs to act with integrity. They are there to represent the electorate, not to make money.

Noreen, York

£100,000 per annum in addition to his MP’s pay. Teachers and nurses would have to work their socks off for more than 3 years to get that sum.

Christina, Berkshire

MPs should not be allowed to lobby on behalf of companies who are paying them. It is a conflict of interest. All MPs should uphold current Parliamentary standards.

Catherine, South London

Sick of one rule for them and another rule for we the people who pay their wages.

Bella, Plymouth

The government wants to introduce a new law that will require everyone to show photo ID when voting in general elections.

But many of the poorest and most vulnerable in our society don’t have a passport or driving license, and the cost of getting one can be too much if you’re on a low income. 3.5 million people currently don’t have photo IDs.

The government has suggested that there may be a free voter ID card that people can get, but there are no details of how that would work yet. Even with a free ID, you’d need to hear about it and apply in time for the election, or risk being turned away at the polling station.

The proposed law will put extra obstacles in the way for people to vote who lack the skills or funds to know about the new rules and get the necessary ID in time.

The thought that people can be locked out of voting is scary.

And this is being suggested by a government who knows that the people most likely to be affected, are the ones who are least likely to vote for them.

The government claims that the new law will reduce voter fraud. However, there is no proof that this is a big problem in the UK. In 2018, the official statistics watchdog even rebuked the government’s claim that this type of electoral fraud is increasing.

If anything, the government should spend less time coming up with solutions to the very rare problem of electoral fraud at the polling booths, and instead worry about their own electoral standards. Especially in light of the Electoral Commission mounting a formal investigation into the funding of Boris Johnson’s Downing Street refurbishment.

Voting is our right – not a privilege. All plans of voter ID requirements at the polling booth must be scrapped immediately.

Highlighted comments

“No one should be denied a rightful vote simply because they lack a photographic ID card. Electoral transgression in this country has been negligible – apart from that committed by the Vote Leave Campaign for which they were found guilty. The same people who now are trying to limit the rightful votes of others they oppose.”

Leonora, Oxford

“Not everyone has photo ID – many do not drive or have a passport. Voting is a right and we need to encourage people to exercise that right, not put them off with unnecessary bureaucracy.”

Kath, Lancashire

“I’m signing because this is deliberately brought in to disenfranchise poor voters who can’t afford a passport or driving licence. It’s a disgrace.”

Jonathan, Liverpool

“This and other measures in the Queen’s Speech are straight up voter suppression attempts. Instead of trying to appeal to voters with policies, the Tories want to lock in their position by cheating. It’s copied from the worst bits of the US Republicans and it must not stand.”

Alison, Hull

“For a government who have rejected identity cards (didn’t Johnson say he would eat his?) to bring in voter identity cards is an attempt to disenfranchise the poor and marginalised and exclude potential Labour voters.”

Nadine, Hertfordshire

“This is likely to reduce turn out rather than increase it which is what is needed in a democracy. I have seen no evidence of voter fraud and therefore this change seems completely unnecessary.”

Helen, Norwich

“I’d prefer the government spent their time and energy on the problems which exist, rather than the ones in their imagination. Or is this an underhand way to disenfranchise people?”

Mary, Leicestershire

But the Cameron scandal is the tip of the iceberg – this is about the whole “revolving door” culture where politicians walk straight out of parliament and into high-paid corporate jobs lobbying their former colleagues.

Former ministers and MPs get generous pensions. Yet they routinely take these lobbying roles, cashing in on their contacts in government.

Recent ex-MPs have gone on to work as lobbyists in City finance, the arms trade, fossil fuels, big tech, privatisation firms and more. They can keep their parliamentary passes to continue to walk the corridors of power while working for private firms. Many even worked as lobbyists before becoming MPs and will likely go back to it afterwards.

Cameron himself said in 2010 that after MPs’ expenses, lobbying was the “next big scandal waiting to happen”. Yet little has changed since that year’s “taxi for hire” case.

This is much bigger than one dodgy former prime minister – we need to permanently ban all former MPs from acting as lobbyists.

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I’m disgusted that former MPs are abusing their position. They were voted in by us to run the country, not to make money for themselves.

Paul, Derbyshire

Paying to influence Government for personal commercial gain is wrong – employing ex-MPs to do this is clearly to use their informal contacts.

Christine, South London

David Cameron increased his net worth from £10 million to £40 million during his brief tenure as our Prime Minister. Government should not be a revolving door to lucrative directorships or appointments. It is PUBLIC SERVICE.

Robin, Gloucestershire

It’s sickening how low our politicians will stoop. Our former MP went from Minister for Defence and national security to an arms company and a peerage.

Jenifer, Yorkshire

The current situation is too open to abuse and has resulted in many people apparently entering politics primarily as a way to get the power to make money for themselves. Get a legal career first, then become an MP, minister if you’re lucky, and then ride the corporate corruption gravy train for the rest of your life, pulling strings, selling influence and taking bribes.

Susan, Oxfordshire

I’m fed up with them denying public sector workers decent pay, then dipping their own snouts in the trough.

Coll, Leicester

Lobbying is licensed corruption. It should be stopped.

Robert, Sheffield

Now a Fox News-style channel has launched in the UK. GB News, which started broadcasting in June 2021, has £60 million of funding from offshore funders and shadowy Brexit backers.

Already, the channel’s bosses are steeped in controversy. GB News was chaired by the Spectator’s Andrew Neil, who declared that EU supporters are “banned” from watching it. Sun columnist Dan Wootton is a presenter, and former UKIP leader Nigel Farage hosts a prime time show four evenings per week.

News should be unbiased and impartial – that’s not just our opinion, it’s UK law. GB News and others plan to use a loophole in broadcasting rules that allows “strongly opinionated coverage so long as viewers are exposed to alternative views”.

We need to close this loophole before biased media takes Britain down the same road as the US.

Find out what you can do to boycott GB News.

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If news and journalism isn’t impartial then it’s propaganda, pure and simple. Allowing right wing propaganda channels will lead to our democracy being compromised, as happened in the US when the Capitol was attacked.

Frances, South London

We have our version of Trump and do not under any circumstances need the equivalent of Fox News to go with him.

Sarah, Bath

Fox News UK is a frightening prospect. In this world there is truth and there are lies told for power and profit. Truth is the basis of democracy. Lies destroy democracy.

Sandra, Hampshire

UK news must be unbiased and impartial. This law protects us from the disaster that has befallen the US – but Andrew Neil is explicit that GB News will be partisan.

David, Devon

We already have a government that lies automatically. We do not need a broadcaster to promote the views and lies of the Brexit backers and their moneyed chums, in their own interests – never ours.

Wendy, Northumberland