MPs pay.

One way of approaching the question of how much you should pay people for doing a job is the "recruit and retain" principle. This says that provided you get a fair number of applicants when you advertise a post, and that people are not leaving you in droves, then you've got it about right (or maybe even are paying too much!) When discussing MPs pay, it has been pointed out that there is no shortage of applicants whenever an election is held, and that very few MPs resign before their term is out. So on that basis, it would seem that MPs are being paid enough, or maybe even more than enough. But I think this misses an important point - there may be plenty of applicants, but are we getting the right sort of applicants? This could be me and my rose-coloured spectacles again, but to my mind the standard of MPs - in terms of experience out in the real world, in terms of general intellect and in terms of their dedication to the concept of public service is not what it was, and I wonder to what extent this is because the sort of candidates we should be attracting can do better - financially - elsewhere.