Mugshots

[Saracen]

And besides, if "posterity" wants to know what, oh, Diane Abbott for instance, looks like, there are thousands of photos, and hundreds of hours of video, not least, several years of regular weekly participation in This Week.

Want to start a fight in London? Seems to me that if you point a camera at something near Westminster, you'll probably cause a ruckus among MPs trying to get their face in front of it.

Is there an MP, so much as a single, solitary MP, for whom less than 1000 photos exist? I very much doubt it. So the "so future generations know what we looked like" is just so much self-serving hogwash.

No more expensive oil portraits, please. None. Not for ANY politicians, of any party, under any circumstances. Not even if we get a future one that's Churchill, Ghandi and Mother Theresa rolled into one. Not unless they want to pay for it themselves.

For taxpayers money, either give it back to us, or at least spend it on something useful, like a kidney machines, or care for the mentally ill in the community, or any of at least a thousand far better causes than a bleeping portrait of a pompous bleeping politician. Just who the bleep do these bleeps think they bleeping are. BLEEEEP.

[wasabi]

Why not just get rid of Westminster and stick them all in a modern dreary grey concrete office on a trading estate near Stansted airport? And get rid off all the pompous Rt Hon Member for Barsetshire South titles too.

Oh and ditch the flipping royals too. Monarchy in this day and age? What?

[santa claus]

......a thousand far better causes than a bleeping portrait of a pompous bleeping politician. Just who the bleep do these bleeps think they bleeping are. BLEEEEP.

This is exactly how I effing bleeping feel. The only saving grace is that some of the posers (or is it poseurs?) look cock-eyed or worse for wear.

Why not just get rid of Westminster and stick them all in a modern dreary grey concrete office on a trading estate near Stansted airport? And get rid off all the pompous Rt Hon Member for Barsetshire South titles too.

Oh and ditch the flipping royals too. Monarchy in this day and age? What?

Good idea! Now that's the wasabi I used to know.

Personally speaking, I'd rather see a portrait of someone of real value in our society like...erm...well...Father Christmas?

[scaryjim]

How about hiring young art students to do it thereby assisting in youth unemployment?

Now now, let's not be hasty - someone has to flip burgers...

[ik9000]

Did they put the job of painting out to tender and then pick the lowest bidder?

Well the quality of that portrait of Diane Abbot suggests they might have! That or the painter had a political view/grudge against labour etc that interfered with producing an unbiased image. Or maybe they just aren't very good and no-one vetted their credentials properly (apparently par for the course) Or perhaps it was a favour, e.g. were they the nephew of the party chairman or something? Who knows! But that painting sure is bad.

[ik9000]

Steady folks. Less of the treason talk. I'd rather have a Queen than a President. We'd pay the same either way, but it would just get the political folk even more aloof and "entitled" than they currently feel they are. Plus there are other benefits like tourism and days off for Royal Weddings.

Now as for changing parliament, heck yeh, but not just the building. We need a system where people get elected on their merits and opinions, and then get given the freedom to debate freely and vote independently based on the opinions they were elected to uphold. To serve the people. Think of that! Not told how to vote by a party whip who says "do it or else". Political parties and this us versus them mentality is counter productive and appalling. It should not be about parties, but merit. Ministerial posts should be taken from the pool of all MP talent available and given to those who have relevant experience in that office. Not pandering to parties and putting chumps in seats they really aren't fit for. IMO once MPs are elected they should then offer a short list of PM and DPM candidates for the public to vote on in a 2nd election the next week. That is a much fairer system. And by keeping the Queen at the top who technically the PM is there to serve, it ought to help remind the PM that he has a responsibility to serve not dictate. Presidential roles seem too empowering to me. As do absolute Monarchies, but in some ways a good king who is genuinely benevolent and ruling for the good of his people would be more free to do so without the pandering and political compromises modern democracy seems to require. But human nature seems to suggest that often this strays into some form of tyranny sooner or later. So we're stuck with democracy. I think it was Churchill who said democracy is not great, but it's the best system we have. (paraphrasing) Of that I think the balance we have of elected vs unelected oversight is also a very good system. Provided the people in the Lords are suitably selected on merits more than just "was a rubbish MP for a while so now we've made them up to be a rubbish peer too"

[scaryjim]

Well the quality of that portrait of Diane Abbot suggests they might have! ...

That is, of course, one problem with "lowest bidder" syndrome - they might be bidding low because they know they'd have no chance of landing the job otherwise! I've seen incidences where people have deliberately not picked the lowest bid at tender because it looked too low - i.e. insufficient funds to do a proper job. I've also seen highest bids picked on the basis that someone who feels they can charge that much must be really good! I get the feeling that most people who put things out to tender don't really understand what they want anyway...

[ik9000]

That is, of course, one problem with "lowest bidder" syndrome - they might be bidding low because they know they'd have no chance of landing the job otherwise! I've seen incidences where people have deliberately not picked the lowest bid at tender because it looked too low - i.e. insufficient funds to do a proper job. I've also seen highest bids picked on the basis that someone who feels they can charge that much must be really good! I get the feeling that most people who put things out to tender don't really understand what they want anyway...

In construction I am convinced it ought to be the case that a statistical spread ought to be applied to the tender returns, and any that are outside a given % or standard deviation from the client's cost plan ought to be discarded (when the mean and standard deviation is suitably positioned to show that the cost plan was reasonable to start with). The lowest tender rarely works out cheapest overall. They go in low to win the job, then become contractual and seek extras and extensions of time left right and centre. It creates stress, hassle, confrontation and delays ultimately none of which benefit the client or anyone really, and which could all be avoided by taking a more realistic selection to start with.

[Saracen]

Well the quality of that portrait of Diane Abbot suggests they might have! ....

Well, my personal opinion was that they'd put that one out to competition among a class of 5 year old blind kids, then picked the worst. Mind you, that may have been a mercy for .... posterity. Maybe photos aren't such a great idea. I'd better stop before I get mysrlf in trouble. Suffice it to say I have nothing but contempt for Ms Abbott, not least since her rank hypocrisy over private schools. That's what I detest most in pompous, patronising politicians .... seeking to moralise, preach and tell us how we should live, then not doing it themselves. Cow.

[wasabi]

Seeing as it is publicly funded, how about they look at ways of recouping some of the costs? Like novelty printed toilet paper?

[Biscuit]

Seeing as it is publicly funded, how about they look at ways of recouping some of the costs? Like novelty printed toilet paper?

I would definitely pay to wipe my arse with Camerons face. Infact, Hagues bald head might be a good one too.

[Biscuit]

Now now, let's not be hasty - someone has to flip burgers...

Or work in costa perhaps.

[santa claus]

Cow.

Seeing as it is publicly funded, how about they look at ways of recouping some of the costs? Like novelty printed toilet paper?

I would definitely pay to wipe my arse with Camerons face. Infact, Hagues bald head might be a good one too.

LOL !

Y'know, perhaps Rolf Harris did the paintings with those big emulsion-type brushes and we're supposed to view them from a distance. Hang on, I'm just going over to the other side of the room.....nope, the portraits are still utter bleep. From here Ken looks like Fungi and Diane looks like Ken Norton

[sammyc]

Some of these are not bad actually; Demilia (8) chose to draw Diane Abbott because "she reminded her of her pet hamster Jessie J". http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...n-9067313.html

I like the first up one of Cameron - it definitely has something...

Can't really call them mug shots, I mean the mugs are us lot paying for it.

I would really love to know the relationship between the artists and the MPs. Is it just ego that they think they are worth a £30k painting, or just plain pork barrelling? In all honesty I am not sure which I hope it is.

If not, refusal was an option - presumably?

(btw, are we allowed to bleep our way round the swear filter if it's politicians then.. or is it one of those 'abuse of positions of privilege' things )

[santa claus]

An uncanny likeness. You can actually see him thinking. Either that or Reg Dwight is behind him.

[Macman]

MPs should be shot, all for making cut backs on public services. But it's ok to fork out for this??