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Mr Houghton And Manual Workers Debate


mrmad

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I'd expect a vader reply before the morning, PK is never online over the weekend (that'll be Tuesday morning this week then).

 

Fun, as in fun to read I guess, something interesting to get our teeth into, as PK says, some people take themselves far too seriously so, let's hope this is all taken in good humour eh?

 

If not, let battle commence. ;)

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Hell no he paid me a compliment saying I spout drivel.

Therefore I would make an excellant MHK

 

Yes I believe you would.

Could you take some others with you. when i say others could you take rog pk and possibly declan? They all spout the same as you dont they. Are they your mates?

Well well well, how very interesting.

 

Sorry Mr Muso but no they are not my "mates" as you put it. However I do have a fair bit of respect for them. I can also inform you that this respect is built out of debating differing opinions so no we don't spout the same either. Strange how you could get all that so wrong really.

 

I think it is an error to compare the IOM Gov with the House of Commons. Sure they have elected economists, barristers, media people and so on while you have tractor salesmen, pharmacists and if the UK nationals are to be believed purveyors of woolly sweaters. But to me it's all a question of degree. I don't see Tynwald despatching a few battle-groups to topple Saddam Hussein. But the decisions taken in Tynwald do have a big impact on the Manx so it is an important role albeit a mostly localised one.

 

There are lots of glib soundbites around paying politicians what they are worth i.e. "if you pay peanuts you get monkeys" and so on. So what renumeration IS a politician worth? Often there are two completely polarised points of view. The first is that if you pay top dollar you will not only get the top people but also they are unlikely to be susceptible to back-handers as they just don't need them. They are also likely to be able to make things happen and get things done. Conversely if you pay a lot less than the top people can earn then any top people who do enter politics go into it as a vocation.

 

From what I have seen the IOM seems to have landed neatly in the worst of all worlds. In the main IOM politicians seem to see government as a way of advancing both their finances and their status. Now this would be OK as long as they returned a good, solid performance. So if they award themselves a payrise simply ask where is the justification? Are they living in poverty or something or are they already enjoying a comfortable living and simply want more? Is it justified by an increased workload and having to put in 12 to 14 hour days? Do they have droves of workers in their department with a mega-budget? It's all a question of degree.

 

As to manual labour and so on I was always taught that "all work is honourable". So as long as everyone gets a decent enough wage that should be good enough. The Civil Servants are something of an anomoly though, at least over here they are. The CS is very process driven with little or no incentive award and rigid rules around promotion. This tends to mean that those who want to get on, who are prepared to take risks, think outside the square etc etc don't tend to stay as Civil Servants for very long. They move out of the easy, cosy, comfortable index-linked non-contributary pension Civil Service because it's stifling and they could do so much better. Unfortunately this does tend to leave a certain kind of worker in the Civil Service for life as they slowly but surely get promoted through "dead man's shoes". That's not to say they are all dullards as I have worked with some very good ones but it did make me wonder just what they were doing in the Civil Service.

 

At the end of the day you can only vote for those who stand and if it is a first time then their performance in gov is always going to be an unknown. After they have been in a while and stand again, well, that's a different story. In the organisation I work in we only ever get promoted on a "proven track record". It's not a bad way of doing things.

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