"Not well off"

Here’s a horrible example of the middle England error from David Aaronovitch:

For eight years [Stephen Byers] remained on the backbenches, periodically suggesting an engagement in forming policy ideas for Labour’s future, but then announced his retirement at the next election. He was isolated and possibly rather bitter.
And almost certainly not well off.

Almost certainly not well off? Consider this.
1. As MP, Byers is paid £64,766 a year, or £1245 a week. This is more than three times the median weekly wage. And it puts him well into the top 10% of male full-time earners; it’s 15% more than the 90th percentile male earner gets.
2. Having been an MP for 18 years, Byers should be eligible for a pension (pdf) of almost £30,000 a year. This is more than 75% of his North Tyneside constituents earn. And this ignores his income from chairmanships and consultancy work, which might add another £10,000 a year.
3. In his four years as a minister, he earned (pdf) around £400,000. It would take 22 years for the median earner in his constituency - who gets £348 a week - to earn that much.
4. When he was sacked as a minister, he was entitled to a severance pay-off of over £17,000 - equivalent at the time to a year’s wages for his median constituent.
Not bad going for a graduate of Liverpool Poly who is practically innumerate.

Comments

[Ken Hall]

Aaronovitch has been wrong on almost every topic for many years now. He appears to be more and more surprised and depressed and bordering on the desperate as he sees his faith challenged by reality left, right and center. his belief in man-made climate change and the solid, scientific, peer-reviewed processes that back it up are esposed for the partisan, biased, flawed, overhyped sham that it is, when many IPCC declarations are based on the declaration from pressure groups and magazine articles, rather than peer review and mush of the peer-reviewed "science" that was taking place was between fellow bands of faith believers who self selected their reviewers and hid the data from anyone else. Climate science has failed to live up to the most basic science 101 principle of openness and honesty in the presentation of ALL data.

Now on the Blairite "third way" which is nothing more than a Marxist anti-democratic take-over of all Parliamentary parties by think-tanks and associated "charities" such as common purpose whose aim is to train the "Leaders of the Post-Democratic age". This creates a system in which the nations assets are slung into a quangocratic limbo between being truly private and truly nationalised, but where losses are socialised and profits privatised. This system is NOT capitalism, nor socialism but is corporatism and it has been adopted by the leaders of all main Parliamentary parties. This is the worst of socialism mixed with the worst of capitalism, where the hyper-ultra-rich are cocooned from risk which is ultimately borne by an ever more ripped-off taxpayer.

Aaranovitch still seeks to defend Blairism as some ideal utopia between the old militant left and the grasping tight right. In reality is is a vile and anti-democratic mix of the worst parts of both. It undermines democracy and Parliament and is treasonous in its application, but who, in the establishment, would dare call it treason when so many of them profit, or seek to profit, so handsomely from this system?

[Pip Gold]

You read and give credence to Aaronovitch ?

[Gareth]

Could it be that same middle class error that has seen senior public sector pay grow at inflation busting rates?

The people filling in the blank cheques have no notion of value for money, worth or wealth. They just want more and to give their friends more.

[Neil]

I think the context of the article was that Byers is not well off **when compared to Tony Blair**, hence his decision to try and emulate Blair by trousering as much as he could before leaving parliament.

[botogol]

yes - compared with poor people he's rich. comapared with rich people he's poor. so what are you saying?

[Gaw]

It's the sense of entitlement that gets me. Why should you expect to become rich (or even "well off") through politics? More should ask: "What would Mr Attlee do?"

Mind you, it's always gone on to some degree (as I point out here: http://gawragbag.blogspot.com/2010/03/intermediation.html)

I wonder whether the failings of these three are more to do with humanity's innate weakness rather than any particular mode of governance or ideology.

[Gaw]

Sorry messed up the link:

http://gawragbag.blogspot.com/2010/03/intermediation.html

[Herbert]

Ken Hall writes: 'Now on the Blairite "third way" which is nothing more than a Marxist anti-democratic take-over of all Parliamentary parties .... This system is NOT capitalism, nor socialism but is corporatism...'

So Marx was never a socialist but wanted a revolution leading to corporatism? With analysis like this Aaronovitch has nothing to fear from you. I don't think I'll be bothering to go to your website.

[george]

Aaronovitch has fewer readers than a bog-standard blog.

[Leon]

You've forgotten the lump sum all MP's get when retiring from the house- the avergae is £48 odd.

[Leon]

£48k, obviously

[Niles Cooke]

You forgot his 'resettlement' money from when he leaves Parliament. A pretty penny indeed.

[Leon]

In fact, he will receive £63,641.

[diogenes1960]

in other words, the man has decided he can afford to retire and flee to Planet Pluto --- before the Railtrack shareholders cut his balls off

[chris c]

Hey, quit with the Russell Group elitism - I'm a graduate of Liverpool JMU. Although admittedly, I got a first, it wasn't in Law and I know my times tables.

[Richard T]

But of course this recent stupidity has probably made him unemployable - at the rate of pay he seems to expect any way. Does taxi driving loom?

[Matthew]

The Standard today has a 'how did the budget affect you' giving three income types for single men, 35k/year, 70k/year and 100k/year.

Ok...in C.London...but still.

Then it had a family, which had three bands, highest being 1m, and then it asked some people whether the budget would make them vote Labour, and the man with a 15m chelsea house said it wouldn't!!

[Major Plonquer]

Aaranovich is a socialist at heart. To the average socialist Byers is downright poor. What do you expect?