MPs To Receive Tax Funded iPads After The Election

Every Member of Parliament in the UK is about to get a brand new iPad or a similar Apple device after the elections and it will cost the country’s tax payers £1 million.

However, the discussion about the issue moves away from the questions whether or not MPs should get devices like these in the first place – and is focused on whether or not they should get an Apple product, or something else.

The House of Commons Commission claimed that offering all 650 ministers a new laptop or iPad Air 2, would actually save money, Daily Mail reports.

Liberal Democrat John Thurso, representing the commission in the chamber, said moving away from Apple’s products would be too expensive, but Shadow Cabinet Office minister Chi Onwurah says she would have preferred a ‘device agnostic’ policy.

‘As we saw with Nigel Mills and Candy Crush, MPs will be using the games, and the iTunes and other features on the iPad,’ she added.

Tory MP Nigel Mills was caught playing Candy Crush on his taxpayer-funded iPad last December.

‘Locking some of the most powerful people in the country into a platform that most of my constituents can’t afford seems like a mistake. And that’s without mentioning the tax avoidance issue. I’m pushing for a device independent digital platform for Parliament.’

The Commission assessed a range of tablets with prices ranging from £100 to £600 and decided on the Apple iPad Air 2.

The cost of supplying the new iPads would be £200,000 a year over the life of the next Parliament.