Point taken. I blogged about this same topic this morning but couldn't figure out where I stood on the issue. I guess my overriding feeling is to leave it to the electorate to decide who they want as their MP?

They should have do spend a year on Jobseekers' Allowance, not being allowed to work (this is more or less the situation some people find themselves in when they can't get job offers because employers won't take them on and there's a lack of local work) and 2 years in a low-paid job.

That'd shut up f***ers like Purnell. As for scum like David Freud, let's shut them and their fellow parasites out, alongside the whole tribe of management consultants, PR spivs, and others who cost the taxpayer more than any disabled person or single mother ever did.

You are not wrong .I find it more irritating when such people talk about ‘running a company’ which means some pointless PR Consultancy off the back of their think-tanking(rhyming slang of out time). David Boothroyd , for example , when I accused him of knowing nothing about life blandly replied “ I work in the building industry , what about you ?”
En realité he works as Political Consultant advising on urban regeneration and planning permission and has done so for about two years. How before did he live ? Bank of mum and dad of course David Cameron a life time professional Politician managed a few years in the private sector, this is commonplace. None them ever ran a shop , started a fabrication business or worked in the S East’s biggest Employer , Insurance .I do not blame them its bloody boring but this is the real world , or at least one of them .

When you add to this the sclerotic effect of Labour education and welfare policies on social mobility , now entirely stagnated , you end up with a homogenous privately educated Oxbridge ruling elite disconnected to life as the majority live it. This is probably more true of Labour than anyone else apart from the Union element . I have always had a soft spot for the unions somewhat dampened by their attachment to the feminised pseudo managerial world of the public sector Their political demise has had a knock on affect on the Conservatives no longer obliged to have people who can speak without fear to the wage earner. Now identical people swap policy none of which has any visceral meaning to them

Aside from the unions , Labour MPs are drawn form the narrowest band of all even if the private education is covered by a leafy Comp and private tutors .It is quite staggering how dynastic Labour political power is far more than the Conservatives themselves far worse than the Liberals . It was for example interesting to see Old money Tamsyn Dunwoody with her cod working class accent rail against the relatively nouveau Edward Timson. You ought to see where she grew up .

Believe it or not I have sometimes thought of taking politics more seriously but when you look at the, long periods of not earning the risk and reward it is hopeless for anyone to whom tax rise make a difference. Ordinary people have responsibilities , jobs and no capital .. . Social exclusion Bob is not just a working class issue .

I have met a few people on their way through the system and I know the type . The sytem produces a sort of creepy conformist lacking life experience and increasingly seeing himself as professional manager not the representative of the democratically expressed views of the people

Arrrrgh ...better get back to work

But in “Do We Need Mass Immigration?” Browne repeatedly makes it clear he hates the BNP. RM obviously hasnt read it or even browsed through it.

Another non-story Bob. For someone who was hung out to dry by some idiot playing the race card when it wasn't necercery I would expect better.

Cameron and the lads don't need to work, they were born with loads of lolly. That's as it should be ,Tory boys have money and run the country as something to keep them amused. This did not apply to Ken who made his money by flogging fags, a noble occupation. Labour boys and girls do it because they want to help those less fortunate than those who vote Tory. Blair was however a bit of both, he wanted loads of lolly and to help the poor, however he wanted the loads of lolly more, pity that.

These MPs do very little when in their first jobs, except become experts in how to double their basic salary by fiddling expenses claims.

Their second jobs tend to be as advisers and this involves inappropriate lobbying for vested interests.

They work for you? You're having a laugh...

Bob, I feel queasy. I agree with you entirely. People who've never worked in the oft-mentioned 'real world' are utterly clueless in all too many ways. Aside from not understanding, as you say, what life is like for working people, I'd add that they also have no experience of being involved in the running of a remotely efficient organisation. Party politics is tolerant of all sorts of managerial and organisation incompetence; 'real' work is not. I'd rather my politicians learned their lessons the hard way, before muddling into power!

Five years of hard knocks ain't nearly long enuf to get any real experience; twenty-five is a minimum. Mind you I can't see much evidence that MPs who have had "real" jobs are any better than any others. Local evidence would suggest the contrary; our man came late to politics and is about as much use as a one finned haddock in a bottom kicking contest. By contrast my pal down the road who went directly into politics after (an ornery non-elite) university is ace and is getting all sorts of good things done on his patch.

A problem is that MPs are up against professionals these days, no longer do freewheeling fish fanciers or the like do their campaigning themselves; they pay specialists to work the system for them. Experience in or near politics is probably necessary to give MPs the skills to deal with professional lobbyists, PR companies and all the assorted hangers-on to say nothing of all our chums in the meeja...

It might be nice to see some work the hours they are supposed to - how many really spend their time outside parliament working in the constituency?

NEWMANIA IS BLOGGING AGAIN...sometimes ...don't all rush

Errm, I'm not sure how to say this nicely.... I'm not sure we share the same audience. I suspect yours will be more highbrow.

Politicians should definitely have a grounding in the cold, hard world outside before even thinking about running for Parliament. But what's more worrying is that 40 seems to be an acceptable age to become a party leader and 55 is past it.

I completely agree with asquith. I had to smile (euphemism for want to throw up) at Matthew Parris (ex Tory MP) writing an article about deserving/undeserving poor recently, and how he so very bravely lived up North on benefits for a whole week! Utterly despicable self promoting stunt. He wasn't there long enough to learn anything, but just long enough for the local residents to think him contemptible.

And, if politicians really need to take outside jobs allegedly enabling them to keep their hand in with the working world and stay acquainted with real people and their lives, there's plenty of voluntary unpaid work in every community they could do, and set an example at the same time. A win win situation for them I would have thought.
But I heard Hague say that if he chose to take up paid speaking engagements in his own time rather than watch the telly, that's his choice, and we can butt out. So he doesn't fancy doing a bit of litter picking, scrubbing graffiti (even without having to wear a dayglo jacket) hospital volunteering or working in the charity shop - for free then?

And MP's should not be employing family members either.

Heather Yaxley. We could start with surgeries.
My Tory MP spends two hours a month, in one morning, in two different parts of the constituency.
None in July, August and December.

CHAZ-Widdy came and lived in the Andover estate near me back in Islington . She painted a grim picture which was furiously contested in the local paper until the people she had lived with got firebombed .

Sometimes an outsider can see things for what they are.

Bob,

I'm with you on this. Anything that makes sure our politicians have some real world experience would be a big improvement on what we have today. Voters don't really have a choice as someone will still vote for a candidate with no experience rather than vote for the 'other side'. It seems that all parties these days put experience of the political village gained working as a researcher or think-thank analyst ahead of real experience - and the more people like that in the system, the less likely it is that 'experienced' people will get in.

The lack of real-world experience has caused, IMHO, this government a number of real problems. It will cause the same type of problems no matter who is in power.

I don't want us to go back to the days where most MPs were 'grandees' either from commerce (Tory) or Unions (Labour), but at least (some) of these people had a greater 'hinterland'. Something has been lost and unfortunately I'm not sure how we will ever get it back.