Submitted on Monday 29th April 2019
Rejected on Wednesday 22nd May 2019
Current status: Rejected
Rejection code: no-action (see below for details)
Stop taxpayers from contributing to MP’s food expenses.
On average, MP’s earn around £79,400 a year. Yet for every £10 an MP pays for lunch, the public contributes £7.60. The average UK salary for those in full time work is £35,400. Why should an MP who earns over double the average UK wage receive these benefits?
For any full time employee, we are expected to pay for our own lunch. Under the Commons additional costs allowance, MPs were allowed to claim up to £400 for food every month. This equates to £4,800 a year per MP.
Why are we expected to contribute this money to people who don’t need it, instead of using it to benefit more important services such as the NHS? NHS nurses are sometimes not even supplied with tea or milk on their shifts yet well paid MP’s have their meals subsidised by tax payers.
You can't sign this petition because it was rejected. But you can still comment on it here at Repetition.me!
The Government e-Petitions Team gave the following reason:
Petitions need to ask the UK Parliament and Government for a specific action.
Taxpayers do not contribute to MPs’ food expenses in the way you describe so it’s not clear what action you want Parliament and Government to take.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, which is independent of the Government and Parliament, is responsible for making decisions about MPs’ expenses.
The rules on claiming for food state that MPs travelling outside their constituency or the London area on parliamentary matters, who need to stay overnight, can claim subsistence of up to £25 for food and drink (no alcohol) for the day.
MPs cannot claim for lunch in the way you describe. You can read more about the rules here:
www.theipsa.org.uk/media/185336/hc-2028-ipsa-2019-20_web_accessible.pdf
If you’re concerned about the cost of food and drink in the cafes in the Houses of Parliament, you might like to sign this petition instead:
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/256302
18.223.106.232 Thu, 25 Apr 2024 10:03:33 +0100
