What an excellent post. 1,000% agreed. I'd even pay them more if needs be. £100k or whatever they are on is not a lot when you consider the average GP probably earns more than that, as does a middle manager in plenty of industries. And we do need to attract people from all walks of life, not only those who are independently wealthy.
20 or 30 years ago when I was a travelling rep, it was the norm to drop off a crate of booze for a customer at Christmas. It was the norm to take them to the cricket or to wimbledon or whatever. Nearly all large companies have completely banned this now, both donating and (especially) receiving.
Why should it be OK for MPs or even worse, ministers. It's totally inappropriate and definitely leads to all sort of conflicts of interest. Parliament would serve the public better if ALL bungs were not allowed.