Members’ pay: Self or solidarity?

It is, in fact, highly likely that the proposed increase will face a challenge. Senator Ben Shenton has promised that he will lodge a Budget amendment aimed at cutting the annual £2.6 million bill for States pay and expenses. In effect, he will be urging his fellow politicians to accept a pay cut which would reduce their remuneration to £32,240 a year.

Senator Shenton is no doubt eager to make the point that States Members should play a leading part in reducing public expenditure. He presumably also has doubts about £45,000 being an appropriate pay level for the job that he and his 52 colleagues undertake. There will be sympathy for the Senator’s views, but he is no doubt entirely aware that the level of self-sacrifice that he is proposing is most unlikely to win the day.

That said, the award now on the table offers our politicians an ideal opportunity to show solidarity with other pay groups which, in the very recent past, were asked to accept pay freezes. If Members were to say no to the two per cent increase, they would demonstrate that they are prepared to play their part in solving the public revenue problems that the Island continues to face. In addition, such action would serve to enhance their collective reputation, which, it is widely acknowledged, is at an all-time low.

The fundamental democratic principle that no one should be prevented from seeking political office means that this Island will never return to the era when membership of the States was a purely honorary position. However, this must not prevent active debate on appropriate levels of remuneration for Members. Just because a pay level has been set, it does not mean that it is ideal, that it is capable of ensuring that the right calibre of person enters politics, or that it is commensurate with the effort expended by all those benefiting from it.

It would be wrong to deduce that because this Island prospered when its politicians were unpaid that this arrangement might ever be reintroduced. Nevertheless, even in the absence of a provable causal relationship, it is undeniable that the political giants of the post-war era produced astounding results without receiving a pay packet at the end of the month.