Pay Rise 2014

[briggfairy]

listening to the radio this morning driving in and it appears that their are 7 millionaires in the shadow cabinet...Maybe it's not a big deal but I always thought one of the reasons people voted Labour was because of it's grass root origins and ties?

Yes but being a millionaire isn't exactly that big a deal anymore, 1 million isn't really a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, if they have run or set up a succesful business then they may well still be from a traditional labour background.

besides if you had a choice of someone to represent you in parliment would you choose the succesful educated millionaire or the bloke outside the bookies smoking a rollup complaining that some people have all the luck?

as for the 1% pay rise it may not be much but with another sdsr due next year, which post herrick is more than likely going to be quite severe, i wouldn't be holding my breath for much more for a few years at least.

 

[PraiseBacon]

Yes but being a millionaire isn't exactly that big a deal anymore, 1 million isn't really a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, if they have run or set up a succesful business then they may well still be from a traditional labour background.

besides if you had a choice of someone to represent you in parliment would you choose the succesful educated millionaire or the bloke outside the bookies smoking a rollup complaining that some people have all the luck?

as for the 1% pay rise it may not be much but with another sdsr due next year, which post herrick is more than likely going to be quite severe, i wouldn't be holding my breath for much more for a few years at least.

I dunno, a million is still a fairly good benchmark and not that easy to get too - it also seems a lot when you lose your millionaire status due to having over 500K wiped off in one day when the company goes bankrupt - but that's another story!

you point though, which is well made, is that being a leftie doesn't mean having to be a pov , and many left wingers have started, grown and run successful businesses..

However, the point i believe Vim was making is that a good chunk of teh shadow cabinet have backgrounds more associated with true blue Tories than "traditional Labour"

ie the Labour party website lists the shadow cabinet as:

[h=The Shadow Cabinet]2[/h]

Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party
Ed Miliband MP

Shadow Deputy Prime Minister, Party Chair and Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Harriet Harman MP

Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Ed Balls MP

Shadow Foreign Secretary and Chair of General Election Strategy
Douglas Alexander MP

Shadow Home Secretary
Yvette Cooper MP

Shadow Lord Chancellor, Secretary of State for Justice and Shadow Minister for London
Sadiq Khan MP

etc

and Wikipedia tells us:

Ed Miliband was Educated at Corpus Christie, Oxford as an Undergrad and the LSE as a past grad

Ed Balls : the private all-boys Nottingham High School, where he played the violin.[SUP][4][/SUP][SUP][5][/SUP] He went on to attend Keble College, Oxford, where he gained a First in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, graduating ahead of David Cameron.[SUP][6][/SUP] Later he attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard, where he was a Kennedy Scholar specialising in Economics

Douglass - state school, then a scolarship - so respect to him from me....

Yvette Cooper : She went on to study at Balliol College, Oxford, where she was awarded first class honours in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. It was there that she became friends with her future colleague, James Purnell. She gained a Kennedy Scholarship in 1991 to study at Harvard University, and she eventually finished her studies with an MSc in Economics at the London School of Economics.

Point being - no many traditional labour backgrounds there!...

Your SDSR point is scary - with UK forces now depleted - Russia et al are happy to throw their weight around - If I was doing a review I'd be looking closely at what we need over the next few years....

 

[Downsizer]

at least tony benn stuck to his guns,.

Ah yes. The working class hero, who is(was) an aristocrat.

 

[br9mp81]

Ah yes. The working class hero, who is(was) an aristocrat.

who gave his seat in the lords to get voted into the commons,i never said i liked him,but at least he stuck to his beliefs,be they right or wrong

 

[GD on Wheels]

who gave his seat in the lords to get voted into the commons,i never said i liked him,but at least he stuck to his beliefs,be they right or wrong

Ah yes. He relinquished the title but kept the money that went with it. And now that he is dead his eldest son will now inherit the title.