Martin Lewis has issued a stark warning about trusting politicians and whether the Prime Minister deserves a pay rise, telling his many avid followers about his experience with Westminster. The BBC Sounds personality took to Twitter, now X, to ask taxpayers and UK households if they believe the Prime Minister deserves a pay rise.
The Money Saving Expert has long campaigned on personal finance and benefits issues, making the case for a different approach in government with a succession of Ministers and MPs willing to hear him out. Despite often taking politicians to task, Mr Lewis argued that calling them all “crooks” was far from the truth.
Following his daily Twitter poll, Mr Lewis, a regular on ITV, returned to the social media platform to comment: “Interesting how many, on the back of my PM poll, talk about politicians as crooks, or only in it for themselves. My own experience, having met, worked with, and spoken to scores of MPs from all parties, is the vast majority (though not all) are, in my view, doing it for the right reasons and because they care.”
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He went on to say: “I may disagree with their methods or policies, but rarely think it is for any nefarious reason. The system of collective responsibility doesn’t help either, when privately you know ministers don’t agree with the policies they’re locked in to having to promote (and then getting verbally battered by the media, including me, for it).”
Birmingham Live reports that the Money Saving Expert went on to say: “The life of a good MP means working incredibly long hours, in the chamber, mastering countless different subjects, in committees, in constituencies, dealing with constituents problems, countless meetings, school openings, and having to represent, travelling to and from London and constituency home.
“Not something I’d ever want to take on. And it’s not just that it can be thankless – it can be met by aggression, derision and sneering. Yet the people who do it are often absolutely bought in to the idea that they are trying to make the country better (though what better looks like is where the disagreement comes in).
“This isn’t about what they earn. The disjoin between the people’s view and their politicians is a real problem.”
He also stated: “Very few have their own tv shows, more but a minority second jobs – but those are the things we hear most.
“I’m giving you my direct experience. May I ask what contact you have with MPs on a one-on-one basis? Is your view coming from a media/social media filter or personal experience? ” he queried another.