Funny

As on the occasions I have been in "Standard" class I've seen quite a few people working on their laptops and (presumably) doing work. of a company nature.

Weather MP's do *any* constituancy or ministerial business at *all* on their train journeys is another matter.

Were they to travel in standard class they *might* have a little more appreciation of what regular UK commuters put up and (who knows) be a little more sympathetic to their needs.

which constituancy is he the member for,. Haltenprice perhaps?

A lot of fuss over very little

It seems like a fair assumption that you could get more work done in first class - there's more space for a start (not guaranteed any flat surface in standard, let alone one actually large enough to work on) and it will almost certainly be less disturbing.

It's quite common practice in the commercial world to estimate how much an individual's time is worth - and if an extra hour or two's work is worth more than the cost of upgrading to first class travel - then to pay for it.

The 'scandalous' behaviour of MPs is largely hot air and media brouhaha - some of them most certainly did wrong, but what is quite reasonable behaviour by others (or what is common practice in the real world) is being pointlessly criticised.

Would I rather my MP put in another 2 hours work on my behalf, and was more informed about the parliamentary debate he was attending? Absolutely. If they can justify the cost, then there's no problem. An outright ban would be counter-productive.

So What

There are 2 issues I have with standard class (which I travel by quite a bit up the West Coast Main line), the first is that my company supplied laptop is too big to use in standard class, without a table seat, and even then if the person opposite (and the trains are so rammed there is allways a person opposite) has a laptop I am snookered.

Secondly, I often find that 1st class seats, esp travelling away from London, are most imes cheaper than standard. Add to that free wi-fi (paid for in cattle class), and inclusive lounge access and meals and drinks, a slightly more expensive 1st class ticket works out cheaper overall anyway!

As someone who travels from the North West to London several times a month, it's ALLWAYs cheaper to fly. Not green but cheaper and more pleasent!

Joined up transport strategy? Go figure.

I say, MP only carriages!!!!

Who wants to sit next to an expenses rorting, drooling half-wit of a Lord or MP?

So who are they employed by

If it is not the house of commons and not the political party, who pays their wages?

they obsessed about ACTA recently too...

and you wrote a story about that. Now that the digital chapter of ACTA has been published, however, for some reason you don't appear to think that ACTA is newsworthy any more. Curiouser and curiouser...

Slightly out of touch or something?

"They may be reading a book but I doubt whether they're undertaking serious work or study, reading reports or amending reports that MPs do when they travel."

Yeah, he's undoubtedly right - ALL students can EASILY afford to travel first class!

Race to the bottom?

Yes the expenses scandal highlighted a need to change things but I'm getting sick of these kind of stories, especially about the pubic sector. Do we really want everyone to be battling to see how little we can earn across the board? I work with ex civil servants who are TUPE'd and they have much better deals than us in terms of pay (and pay increases thanks to high image union membership), holiday and pensions. Am I jealous of them? Yes. Do I want them to have to come down to the same deal as me? No.

At this rate workers at the coal face will be down to subsistence living while big business rapes the planet some more, laughing while their tabloid ruler friends convince us to tear each other apart

1st class vs standard class

I travel by train a lot, I also fly a lot as well, in both cases I pay for the travel myself more often than I'm reimbursed. I generally pick my class of travel by the length of time I'm onboard, and what I expect to do on board. Anything over a couple of hours and I'll definitely pick first/business. For flights, it is a nightmare to get a proper night's sleep in cattle class on a red eye. I find that in business across the pond I can completely avoid any jet lag by using business class. On trains, short trains (like the Heathrow Express) I see no benefit to first class. But anything over an hour the difference in the noise levels and overcrowding between first and cattle are huge. You pretty much always get a seat if you travel first class, and the noise levels mean you can concentrate (or sleep) on board. It is okay travelling in standard if you book way in advance and can book a seat (even a table seat) for your journey, but my trips (like that of many MPs) can't be booked way in advance - so I can definitely empathise with the MPs position. I worry that what we are seeing now is the expenses crisis being turned into the politics of envy. Do we really want to turn being an MP into a job that makes minimum wage and has no benefits? What type of person do you think will agree to be an MP? We want to attract people to be MP who are senior doctors, head up companies, and other senior professionals. Do we really expect these sort of people to take a pay and allowances cut, and to stop travelling in 1st class on trains?

I know the current crop of MPs have endeared themselves to us, but if we aren't careful, we will end up with rules that prevent the competent and successful from ever becoming MPs, then we will never get rulers worthy of the position.

Look doods...

The only thing that the Tories can truly and truculently say is that

"from time to time the British electorate feels in need of some self-flagellation in which we are happy to serve and at the same time line our very deep pockets with incredible amounts of public money. We are a management team called in by the UK voting electorate to inflict harm on the many, a reasonable bit of dosh on the few and loads of readies for ourselves.

You know it, we know it, everyone in the whole world knows it, so why the fuss and commotion?"