From Jakarta to Westminster: Why UK MPs Need a Bills cap, a Ban on Flipping—and a Full-Scale Purge of Privilege

 

Jakarta’s riots weren’t just about perks—they were about power. When Indonesian MPs awarded themselves allowances 10× the minimum wage, the streets erupted. Protesters demanded not just rollbacks, but rupture: wage justice, transparency, and an end to elite impunity. 

Westminster should take note.

Here in the UK, Parliament remains a fortress of entitlement. The 2009 expenses scandal exposed how MPs flipped homes, claimed for duck houses, and redecorated on the taxpayer’s dime. But the deeper rot—structural privilege, foreign influence, and institutional excess—was never excised.

Bills cap Now: Cap the Cash, Cut the Corruption

The average MP earns £86,584, plus expenses, pensions, and often consultancy fees. IPSA continues to approve pay rises with minimal public oversight. Meanwhile, the UK median wage hovers around £33,000. The gap is not just economic—it’s ethical.

We need a Bills cap: a hard ceiling on total MP remuneration—salary, expenses, and perks—pegged to 1.5× the national median wage. No more golden parachutes. No more taxpayer-funded renovations. No more flipping homes to dodge capital gains tax.

Ban the Flip: End Property Profiteering

MPs still exploit housing allowances to flip second homes, reclassify properties, and extract public funds for private gain. Some sell these homes for profit, then re-enter the cycle. It’s legalised looting.

We need:

• A criminal ban on flipping for financial gain

• Mandatory capital gains disclosures and clawback

• Retrospective audits of property claims since 2009

• Royal expenses/Duchy costs - are Gstaad or Wimbledon jollies a key 21C Royal function?

Lunches, Bars, and Subsidised Excess

Parliament’s taxpayer-subsidised bars and restaurants cost the public millions annually: at least £15M. MPs enjoy cut-price alcohol, gourmet meals, and private dining while food banks proliferate.

Reform demands should include:

• End all subsidies for alcohol and luxury dining

• Parliament and Council meals based on Prison/Skool/Army/Hospital fayre

• Publish itemised receipts for all hospitality claims

• Ban alcohol consumption during parliamentary hours

If nurses and teachers can’t expense their lunch, neither should MPs. And MPs shouldn't be excluded from real world costs or using their work salaries.

Similarly energy bills beyond salary should be scrapped.

MPs were paid typical salaries to allow anyone to stand not to enrich themselves with Jakarta levels of bloat and featherbedding and embezzlement.

Hereditary Rot: Abolish the Lords, End Entitlement

The House of Lords remains a hereditary relic, with unelected peers wielding legislative power. Many are former donors, party cronies, or aristocrats with no democratic mandate.

We need:

• Abolition of hereditary peerages - now not years delays again

• Elected second chamber or citizen assembly

• Lifetime bans on political appointments for major donors and donor caps

Democracy cannot coexist with inherited power. Nor Elon Musk nor Israel nor Russia buying up our MPs.

Foreign Influence: AIPAC, LFI, and the Lobby State

A recent investigation revealed that one in four UK MPs have received money or sponsored trips from pro-Israel lobby groups, including USA-style AIPAC eg Labour Friends of Israel (LFI), and Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI). Collectively, MPs accepted over £1.2 million in funding, with some visiting Israel during active military operations. And some not declaring said visits.

This raises urgent questions:

• Who sets UK foreign policy—voters or lobbyists?

• Why are MPs allowed to accept foreign-sponsored travel?

• What safeguards exist against policy capture?

• Details of APPG sponsors/jollies etc

We demand:

• Ban on foreign-sponsored trips for sitting MPs

• Mandatory lobbying disclosures, including indirect funding

• Independent ethics panel to review foreign influence

Citizen Veto and Real-Time Transparency

MPs should not vote on their own pay. Any future rise over 10% must trigger a public referendum and be specified in manifestos. Expense claims should be visible in real time, not buried in quarterly PDFs. the cosy party duopoly is broken and parties must tender what hey think is viable to run the government. 

We propose:

• Live weekly dashboards of all MP claims

• Citizen veto power over pay and perks

• Open-source audit tools for public scrutiny

From Reform to Rupture

Jakarta showed us what happens when the public is ignored. Westminster should not wait for the Great British Tradition of riots again. Reform must be proactive, not reactive. But reform alone is insufficient. We need rupture—a constitutional insurgency that dismantles hereditary power, foreign influence, and economic excess.

The UK deserves a Parliament that serves—not siphons. Let’s purge the perks, flip the system, and build a democracy rooted in justice, transparency, and abolitionist ethics.