Skin In The Game

[MOIC]

Is it about time that our politicians have 'skin in the game', whereby if they do not live up to their promises, they get a penalty, financial, demotion or both? The same could be applied to other people in power that fail to live up to their promises. (Force majeure to be take into account)


Liz Truss has promised the earth to satisfy conservative members in order to win the Conservative leadership. Are her promises and tax giveaways sustainable and a realistic solution, or just waffle to be PM?

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I think that Liz "you cant" Truss is a limited comapny with no PGs!

 

[MOIC]

I can visualise an Exodus from UK, should she (as it seems the case) become PM.

Her house, if she owns one, should be the first to go as a penalty, then all her Maggie type clothing.

 

[DazRave]

Great idea in principle but it would be hard to prove and easy to get out of if we did have 'skin in the game' politics, I'd imagine.

Easy to, once in power, say that there are many more variables found since becoming PM and so the promise can't be fulfilled for whatever reason.

 

[MOIC]

Great idea in principle but it would be hard to prove

Why would it be hard to prove?

If they say they will do this or that and they don't, off with their heads!

I intentionally included a force majeure clause.

 

[IanSuth]

Is it about time that our politicians have 'skin in the game', whereby if they do not live up to their promises, they get a penalty, financial, demotion or both? The same could be applied to other people in power that fail to live up to their promises. (Force majeure to be take into account)


Liz Truss has promised the earth to satisfy conservative members in order to win the Conservative leadership. Are her promises and tax giveaways sustainable and a realistic solution, or just waffle to be PM?

I don't think they are even possible let alone realistic - and whilst i love the idea I don't think it fits with many uk laws/rules re parliamentary privilege.

I do however think there should be a parliamentary HR department who along with the standards committee should be able to force a recall petition for acts of gross misconduct/incompetence or premeditated lieing

 

[MOIC]

I don't think they are even possible let alone realistic - and whilst i love the idea I don't think it fits with many uk laws/rules re parliamentary privilege.

That's what needs to be changed.

Politicians (as well as others in leadership) promise the (nearly) impossible to get elected, knowing full well it can't be achieved.

What's the redress, apart from not much?

Decisions affect thousands of lives, if not millions, yet they can get away virtually scot-free. How is that fair or right?

 

[Chawton]

If we're being scrupulously honest with ourselves, an electorate voting for the constant deferral of sacrifice, personal responsibility or-heaven forfend-a general willingness to live within it's means, is equally to blame.

The politicians only peddle it because they know there's a market for it.

I don't disagree with the idea politicians should be more accountable but in 2022 politicians are firmly downstream of the electorate. They pander to the people, not the other way around. We haven't got Kitchener jabbing an accusing finger in the direction of Belgian killing fields, we've got Parliamentarians passing laws that absolve reckless consumers and lazy employees of any negative consequences to their actions.

 

[Mark T Jones]

The reason that politicians pedal quick fixes is because that's what the electorate buys.

I have some respect for Rishi because he is actually somewhat honest about the s**t we are in - which appears to turn people against him.

Let's be honest though, being PM (or any high-up political office) is a horrible job - particularly right now - unless you have the hide of a rhinoceros and an ego the size of a planet. Most of the critics would run a mile if they were asked to do it (and nearly all would f**k it up).

In fact, the only leader I can think of who isn't loudly criticised by their population is Kim Jong-Un.

Makes you think...

 

[IanSuth]

The easiest quick fix would be to say that any MP subject to a successful recall petition would not be due any of the normal payouts upon leaving the role - just a % of pension contribution accrued whilst working.

The idea that those "minsters" in the job for just a few days during the Tory civil war that brought down BoJo will get massive payouts is ludicrous

It might make a few stop and think for the odd second

 

[MOIC]

If we're being scrupulously honest with ourselves, an electorate voting for the constant deferral of sacrifice, personal responsibility or-heaven forfend-a general willingness to live within it's means, is equally to blame.

The politicians only peddle it because they know there's a market for it.

I don't disagree with the idea politicians should be more accountable but in 2022 politicians are firmly downstream of the electorate. They pander to the people, not the other way around. We haven't got Kitchener jabbing an accusing finger in the direction of Belgian killing fields, we've got Parliamentarians passing laws that absolve reckless consumers and lazy employees of any negative consequences to their actions.

Reckless consumers will end up suffering by getting into debt and losing assets, the same with business owners.

Politicians get their pension and end probably end up in the House of Lords.

Something's wrong.

 

[MOIC]

In fact, the only leader I can think of who isn't loudly criticised by their population is Kim Jong-Un.

You mean they can't be heard or show their feelings.

They're brainwashed as most are in autocratic states, too frightened to speak against the powers that be.

That's not going to happen in the West, we just need people in responsible jobs who make decisions which affect the public to be accountable and 'lose' assets if they fall short. There would need to be an increase in a PM's salary and those on the front bench, but a bond placed when accepting the job.

It may sort the wheat from the chaff.

 

[MOIC]

The easiest quick fix would be to say that any MP subject to a successful recall petition would not be due any of the normal payouts upon leaving the role - just a % of pension contribution accrued whilst working.

And if they don't live up to the position they're in?

We can all name a few front benchers that are totally lame.

 

[Jeff FV]

I have two observations:

1) Cameron broke the mould, which Johnson & Truss have followed: they all wanted to be Prime Minister for the sake of being Prime Minister rather than because they had their own beliefs and policies. Compare with, say, Thatcher & Blair who both had a vision for the country and that was their motivation.
When he was first elected PM (2010?) I was working with someone who had been at Oxford with Cameron (and still kept in contact - she went to his 50th birthday party at Chequers) She always said he “was a nice bloke, but doesn’t really have any convictions. He just wants to be top of the pile“ and this was bourn out through his premiership. Johnson famously wrote two pieces, one for staying in the EU, then other for leaving, and only settled on the latter as he thought (correctly) it would be his route to power (although I don’t think he expected, or wanted, Leave to win). And now we (are about to) have Truss - who’s political journey has gone from Lib Dem, to Remainer, to ardent Brexiteer to further her own career. In between we had May who at least did the job out of a sense of duty. I don’t agree with much of what she did, but at least she did it as she thought it was the right thing for the country. I often wonder how different things might have been had she been at the helm during Covid. (I certainly don’t think we would have had partygate or excused staffers for travelling to Durham to check their eyesight)

2) Johnson has broken our democracy. He has ignored (trampled on) the norms and conventions that our parliamentary democracy has worked on for hundreds of years. As a consequence, we now need a much more rigorous, and enforced, set of written rules dictating how MPs and the Prime Minister must conduct themselves

 

[Mark T Jones]

I have two observations:

1) Cameron broke the mould, which Johnson & Truss have followed: they all wanted to be Prime Minister for the sake of being Prime Minister rather than because they had their own beliefs and policies. Compare with, say, Thatcher & Blair who both had a vision for the country and that was their motivation.
When he was first elected PM (2010?) I was working with someone who had been at Oxford with Cameron (and still kept in contact - she went to his 50th birthday party at Chequers) She always said he “was a nice bloke, but doesn’t really have any convictions. He just wants to be top of the pile“ and this was bourn out through his premiership. Johnson famously wrote two pieces, one for staying in the EU, then other for leaving, and only settled on the latter as he thought (correctly) it would be his route to power (although I don’t think he expected, or wanted, Leave to win). And now we (are about to) have Truss - who’s political journey has gone from Lib Dem, to Remainer, to ardent Brexiteer to further her own career. In between we had May who at least did the job out of a sense of duty. I don’t agree with much of what she did, but at least she did it as she thought it was the right thing for the country. I often wonder how different things might have been had she been at the helm during Covid. (I certainly don’t think we would have had partygate or excused staffers for travelling to Durham to check their eyesight)

2) Johnson has broken our democracy. He has ignored (trampled on) the norms and conventions that our parliamentary democracy has worked on for hundreds of years. As a consequence, we now need a much more rigorous, and enforced, set of written rules dictating how MPs and the Prime Minister must conduct themselves

My personal take is that Blair was very much the one who wanted to be PM for the sake of being PM.

He also blurred the line between left & right to the point of being invisible (Whether for better or worse). That, in itself took a lot of the party politics out of the role leaving the more shallow people politics.