Earlier this week in Readers Letters in the Neath Ferret I referred to the example the Kinnocks have been to their son, Stephen. My theory is that Boy Kinnock will have been influenced by the fabulous lifestyle enjoyed by both parents, both as politicians in the Commons and the EU in their younger days, and now they are pensioners, some very comfortable pocket money courtesy of them both being regular attendees in the House of Lords.
Their joint public sector pensions (because I'm unsure actually if either of them have ever done work in the private sector) were estimated at £185K in 2009 so will now surely be of the order of £200K per annum. I haven't even bothered to check if this figure includes the old age pensions both will be rightly entitled to.
In 2013/14 the Kinnocks claimed the following expenses from attending the House of Lords:
Glenys - £38,700
Neil - £28,650
Combined total of £67,350.
That £67,350 went entirely into their pockets. No income tax payable, no National Insurance. That's £5,612 a month. All you have to do for it is sign in as and when - then bingo - can I have my £300 a day please? I'm not suggesting that's what the Kinnocks do of course. I'm sure you'll find they make a valuable contribution to this learned institution. But technically - you just need to sign in. As a comparison though, a married person over 65 would need to be on a gross salary of almost £96K to bring home what the Kinnocks do from the Lords.
I would doubt very much if there are many professional couples in NPT who pocket this sum of money monthly (maybe the Hain's - nearly forgot them) but you have to say it's an enormous sum going into a household that is already benefiting from pension income of about £200K a year. What can they be doing with all this money?
It does make you wonder if the example set by his parents is one of the reasons Boy Kinnock would seek to enter Westminster. And if Labour was to form the next Government who can say what career opportunities may arise.
His sister Rachel already works closely with Ed Miliband as an advisor apparently, having previously worked as an events organiser for Gordon Brown and before that as a researcher for her mother when she was an MEP. A spokeswoman for Glenys Kinnock at the time stated: "Rachel Kinnock has recently been employed by Mrs Kinnock in a completely regular and contractual way as an additional executive assistant and researcher.
"Rachel is a graduate with extensive experience in administration and organisation."
They would say that, wouldn't they?
Nepotism is a cancer in any publicly funded system but particularly when it affects our own lawmakers. You have to laugh (not really) at the pathetic, lame excuses these parasites then come up with to try and justify the unjustifiable. Things like, it's all within the rules, you need to have people around you that you can trust in our line of work, you get 110% commitment from your own family - blah, blah, bloody blah.
The fact is, if there is a buck to put into their own family's pocket - that's where too many of our politicians will ensure it will go. One in four of them employing "connected parties" according to latest figures. That means a close relative to you and me.
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And now, with the kerfuffle over the Scottish Referendum, the flavour of the day amongst many MPs is now to vilify the elitism of the Westminster circus. To bang on about how out of touch they are. Suddenly, our MPs have undergone an almost religious conversion. People like Peter Hain and many other Labour MPs are trying to dissociate themselves from the Westminster bubble as quickly as they can. It's classic "Socialist" rewriting of history! They've happily got rich off it for years, gorging themselves on that voluminous, ever full, public breast as if milk will be banned on the morrow. But now it's suddenly time to reconnect with the common man, the man who gave them that first step onto the ladder. They've climbed the ladder and picked the best fruit off the tree. Now they want to kick the same ladder away. Bloody hypocrites. Be careful folks - because they are all about to jump on this particular bandwagon and try and convince you that what's been going on there for years was somehow someone else's doing. Now, as fast as they can, they are desperately sending out the message: "We feel your pain. But we've changed. Just keep the faith with us and we shall deliver you to the Promised Land". After we've checked it out for you first, naturally.
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POSTSCRIPT - Not sure how many of you spotted the deliberate mistake earlier. Old Man Kinnock does now enjoy a return from the private sector - further swelling his already expansive pockets. He is Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Heads of the Valley Development Company - you know, the ones supposed to be building an international racetrack at Ebbw Vale. The post is remunerated and is declared in the Lords Register of Interests but without paying to inspect Company records (on my pension!) it has to remain a mystery what he is paid.
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