Performance-related pay for Politicians.

Why not? Measure a Government’s performance against clear targets, set from the manifesto upon which they are elected, and make a proportion of their pay and bonuses contingent upon achieving their targets. The performance should be measured by an independent body convened by a random drawing of names from electoral registers and with the authority to engage qualified consultants to assist in their deliberations.

While we’re at it, politicians should also be held to the same standards of accountability as they impose on businessmen. If they conceal information which is relevant to a policy debate, for example, or conceal financial information from their shareholders, (who are also their ‘market,) they should be subject to the same laws as managers of businesses.

We should also renew demands that politicians and civil servants are subject to the same pension rules as the rest of us. Gordon Brown knows that he can always raid our pension funds, (again,) to pay his and theirs. (Compare theirs with yours, and while you’re at it, compare the pension arrangements for civil servants with those of the Armed Forces.)