It's A Hard Life Being A Member of Parliament,

MP's have defended their generous 12-week summer holiday,

so the six Members of Parliament, plus two peers, who jetted off to the South Pacific on a 'fact-finding mission' must be really sad that they had to work in their summer break, the good news was of course that the 16-day trip only cost the British taxpayers £73,000, the group were investigated the impact of climate change,

other costs were picked up by Third World countries where the average wage is less than £1,500 per year, the politicians chose a five-star hotel on Fiji as their base but ensured they broadened their minds with trips to Tonga, Kiribati and Vanuatu, however, during the busy schedule they did manage to fit in whale watching, lunch on a paradise island where Channel 4 filmed the reality series Shipwrecked, and a £1,000 dinner in Tonga,

the group, who flew to Fiji via Australia, were all members of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK, they were Labour MPs Meg Munn, Jim Sheridan, Betty Williams, Neil Turner and Colin Challen, plus Tory MP Andrew Rosindell, Lib Dem peer Lord Roper of Thorney Island and Labour's Lord Lea of Crondall, two members of CPA staff also accompanied them, so next time you vote for any of the above think how hard they all worked on their holidays!