He wants redundancy pay for getting fired? I hope this clueless fool and his pet chimp Gullis are destitute after the damage they and their chums did to the UK
I know there is.
A sorry effort at being ironic, because Baker was so against any help for the unemployed & yet asking for more than his already generous redundancy pay.
You’d think being an MP would be an excellent opportunity to showcase your leadership and professional skills. Employers would snap you up, if you were any good.
There's so many examples of a huge lack of self-awareness in that piece, but I think my favourite is the open admission that all Baker and his chums are actually qualified for is an unremarkable mid-level corporate job.
Yet he seems to believe that he was somehow fit to be a minister of state.
On second thought, this is unfair. Most of the unremarkable mid-level corporate types I've worked with were decent, pleasant people that could deliver routine projects with a great deal more thoughtfulness, certainty and empathy than Baker et al ever displayed.
Do he was entitled to four months salary plus Loss of Office Payment, which is double the statutory redundancy payment and thinks he should get more. What planet does he live on?
The accounts for that company are overdue, the last ones showed a massive loss and questioned if it could continue to be a going concern. Maybe there should be a safety net for people who make bad investments too.
Just an aside but pre-election Steve Baker was giving big vibes that he was planning to be a man of leisure, doing "sky-diving, motorcycle racing and fast catamaran sailing". https://youtu.be/uNFMbOr1gss?si=UjG7Dk5Wyx8hnaJn
I’m sure he would happily tell you, if you were in a similar situation, that you knew the risks going in and you need to stand on your own two feet, snowflake.
Steve baker can go fuck himself. What an absolute tool. Frankly would rather hire an asylum seeker than give this nicompoop a security net for his home economics incompetence.
Talentless, with no qualifications or credentials to survive in the real world. If that's how thick they are when they leave Parly, perhaps they might consider their later position before they go into it.
Steve - no one wanted you to exercise leadership that’s the brutal reality. Yes Ayn Rand (and Jesus) were your heroes - not sure how that works- then again Rand also didn’t believe in a helping hand until at the end of her life she did…
How odious do you have to be to spend years toadying up to business interests and clearing their path through regulation, and still come away without a sinecure at the end of it?
Steve Baker wasn't simply well known, more notorious, for pushing those hard Brexit values. Walks away from all that destruction and then expects people to want to offer him a job. More self dilusion on display.
Could also try not spouting off to prove that you are a toxic/illogical/uninformed/fantasist human whilst in your job - might ease getting a job when it ends?
Why would anyone take Baker on and why should he expect to be treated differently because he was an MP?His voting record speaks for itself,voted not to feed vulnerable kids and cuts to UC to name a few.He was also chairman of the infamous ERG.The country is poorer because of ppl like him.
I think if you're well-known for good judgement, outstanding leadership and financial intelligence, you have no problem finding post-political employment....
That is absolutely phenomenal hypocrisy from him. It's laughable. Wouldn't we all like a full year's pay if we were effectively sacked for doing a bad job.
Based on previous comments, Steve has a golden opportunity to get into the business of manufacturing very small violins and sheet music for the world's saddest song. So it's not all bad.
Just trying to remember the accrual rate of their defined benefit scheme in comparison with the pensions that most workers have these days... Nope struggling to feel any sympathy for the hard man of Brexit...
I'm lost - what safety net do you need beyond what is available to the general public, given that you have been paid a minimum of 3x the average male salary +expenses, get final salary pension, resettlement grant etc? If he can't turn the cachet of having been an MP into a job that's surely on him.
14 years if he had just been an MP means his pension is at least £26k p.a. (current female median income!). As he held various extra responsibilities and was a minister, it is definitely more.
There are many capable people who would not consider entering politics because of the uncertain time expectancy of the role and the impact on careers. Offering more support after defeat would address that.
(In my view, that's more important to address than any perceived deficiency in salary.)
I don't agree at all with the first paragraph. The professions are hugely overrepresented in parliament, working class backgrounds are few (and those from working class backgrounds would jump at the chance). The previous prime minister was a billionaire and he still went into politics.
I broadly agree, but I don't think he's making that point: for most people, surely being an MP for 14 years is something good to put on a CV, but he seems to be arguing that it's a negative because he's well-known. So maybe the problem is less being an MP and more what he has said / done in public?
Just to be clear there should be a luxury social safety net, for MPs and everyone else. Academics I know have been offered redundancy of less than half a year’s salary after 20 years’ service, thanks to his party bankrupting UK higher education
While this is getting some traction here’s a bit of comparative social policy - no wait, come back! UK is exceptionally miserly when it comes to replacing lost income for the unemployed.
I thought that argument was won during COVID times. As soon as people saw how much that would get to survive on they reacted in horror, so the government quickly moved to introduce furlough (rather than risk increasing the current benefits to something liveable).
Most European countries have a social insurance based welfare system in which for a period unemployment benefits are calibrated in terms of previous income rather than the means tested flat rate we get here
The dutch system is pretty amazing, you can get most of your salary in benefits and companies have to go to a special court to fire you. You pay a lot in taxes for this but it makes life a lot more stable. This is how governments can protect people. Of course most people don't have these contracts.
This does exactly what Steve Baker is asking for: some money to tide you over while you find an appropriate job. Britain has never quite managed to set this kind of system up, but there were timid attempts which were torn down by…
Yes, you’ve guessed it. Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government. Of course to finance such a system National Insurance would need to go up. But it would make the welfare system more generous whilst conserving incentives to contribute. We should seriously think about doing something similar.
Contractors tend to put money by as they know there can be a lull between contracts.
Baker should've planned ahead. As a politician the concept shouldn't be novel.
That's it - MPs are not employees, they are on a four year contract with option to extend for a year. It's a low day rate, but the pension and free accommodation makes up for it.
He was, I believe, an IT contractor when he was at Lehman Brothers. Also he spent a lot of his parliamentary career investing in and shilling for gold related companies. So perhaps someone with that kind of money to spare doesn't need sympathy.
Do a Portillo and take it as a pitch to the BBC.
Preposterous concept that an exMP could mix with "normal folk". Or do regular work. Hilarious. We'll do it. Etc.
He could have statutory minimum redundancy (like everyone else - and although it’s a minimum, it’s what most people get & feel grateful for, in the hope it lasts long enough to tide you over)
Let him re-read all the articles he put his name to while an MP, spouting off about benefits culture. Then a period of reflections about how those articles now apply to him. Finally a long walk off a short pier.
Having previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union surely his knowledge and expertise would be useful in taking us back in?
As far as I can tell, the MPs who do a good job of being an MP are employable both before and after their stint as an MP. But I can imagine that if you were not getting good job offers before becoming an MP, you might be even worse off after being an MP, especially if you said a lot of dumb stuff.
Also, it’s an interesting notion that ‘exercising leadership’ puts an elected official at risk of being voted out. At best, it could mean that working for an electorate’s best interests isn’t always what they [think they] want. But it could just be Baker euphemising for going out on unpopular limbs.
Has he been going to the Job Centre? He should ge applying for lots of jobs. Remember the mantra get any job then work you're way back up. Aldi need cashiers!
Incredible how many MPs who would regularly pretend that you can live a life of luxury on benefits also claim they can't get through 1 year after 4+ years of £80,000+. How can they not survive having been paid that yet £400 a month is enough for 1 person or £628 for 2 to live the life of Riley
Comments
(Obvs Jonathan Gullis fails the 'dick' test)
Why should MPs be treated any differently?
A sorry effort at being ironic, because Baker was so against any help for the unemployed & yet asking for more than his already generous redundancy pay.
2. He could sign on.
Oh, wait.
Yet he seems to believe that he was somehow fit to be a minister of state.
This is art.
Being an MP is like having a fixed term contract. It comes to an end at every election and needs to be renewed - or not.
Expecting free bunce from taxpayers because you haven’t planned for that is insulting.
Perhaps he should have thought about his future employability before he decided to be such a horrible politician
And no, we don’t want to fund ex-MPs lifestyle. Get on your bike
Did the Tory MPs ignore their advice to the rest of us?
Again?
Funny, that.
Hello, Actions! Meet consequences!
It's '...when you're well known for being a self-serving right wing git'.
If he's on the scrapheap, the scrap is his own.
(In my view, that's more important to address than any perceived deficiency in salary.)
Baker should've planned ahead. As a politician the concept shouldn't be novel.
Preposterous concept that an exMP could mix with "normal folk". Or do regular work. Hilarious. We'll do it. Etc.
Unless you're well known for the wrong reasons.
In which case, perhaps you should have thought about the consequences of your actions?
Cry harder, you 'won'.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/26481938/how-to-save-money-food-shop-budget/
Top tip: try not to be an ass. Always helps when you're preparing for your next job.
Fuck. Off. Steve.