AMs salaries under review

The Western Mail reports today about the panel which is being set up to discuss AMs allowances and pensions. William Graham AM will be the political representative sitting on the panel alongside Sir Michael Wheeler-Booth (chairman), Mair Barnes a non-executive adviser to the Commission, Eileen Heasman of the Office for National Statistics and Professor Steven Martin of Cardiff Business School.

I am sure that there will be quite a debate surrounding this as people often seem quite negative about giving politicians any money at all- despite all our hard work. This debate will have significant resonance this year also, as Gordon Brown is urging MPs to vote against a pay rise for themselves at Westminster.

Having watched the programme last night with Dan Snow and Peter Snow titled 'What Britain Earns?' I don't think that AMs have room for complaint over salary given that 90% of the population earn far less than politicians! I think that the salary is more than sufficient.

The programme 'What Britain Earns' was very interesting, especially when it came to discussing the salaries of Imams and Bishops, and how they must often rely on the goodwill of their congregation for a stable salary, which varies from £5,000 a year to £20,000 a year. The Imam questioned on last night's show was concerned that due to the fact that a salary could be so low, they are failing to attract the calibre of people that they would like to see enter the role of Imam in their Mosques.

All in all the programme was very informative, but it did highlight what we already know, in that poverty is still rife in Britain, and that the minimum wage is still far from sufficient to ensure that we lift people, and their families out of poverty. When you think about people scraping to survive compared to the lifestyles of celebrities who shockingly employ people to organise their clothes wardrobes for them, then surely that is enough to move us to action, and to campaign for change.