The Daily Telegraph appears to have the edge on its media rivals with the daily updates as to which MPs have been abusing the tax payers non-negotiated generosity in supporting their genuine expenses and expense abuses.
With the others playing catch up, the Political gravy train has come under the spotlight as never before. For too many years the details were a closed book with no one knowing what was claimed, for what reason and for how much. Every stone is being turned to get accurate information or suggestions of impropriety and to show those MPs who lack honesty, integrity and conscience.
Now we have seen in only a few days, that hands are going up because they realise that efforts to deflect opinion, dispute allegations and deny wrong doing and responsibility have failed miserably. All this coming to the surface after tax payer funded attempts to do whatever is necessary to prevent expenses details from coming into the public domain.
As details come forth into the public arena on a daily basis, like the next episode in a TV soap, the public, tax payers and political knockers rub their hands together like kids in a sweet shop on a free sweet day.
It is no wonder that the collective political machinery wanted this information kept quiet because the public backlash was always going to be immense and totally negative.
At the same time that the hypocritical mutterings of honesty, transparency and accountability rang through every department in every public sector support service, those who made the policies and made policy decisions clearly abused the trust they had and exploited the luxury of an wide ranging and extravagant claim culture within their expenses, fortunately awarded to them.
Some of them tried to blame another entity, it was somehow not their fault.
Some of them have been caught for what they are.
Some of them have little or no moral conscience for what they see as their right and a way of fleecing the tax payer to make their own existence financially better off.
Some of them are crooks and have shown lack of regard and lack of respect for those who put them into positions of trust that they have abused with apparent impunity. It is not just MPs but also the parliamentary machinery that has tried to quash details from becoming public.
As page after page of the book turn, as new revelations come into the public arena, it seems that by saying sorry will allow all this to be forgotton, to be brushed under the carpet and they can all get back into their way of being honourable members again.
And so the pages turn.
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!
So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
You say, ´I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
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And they say that they will bring bankers to heel, pot calling kettle black comes to mind. Assuming that is not racist of course. But then the pot and kettle were used on the aga.
Well I suppose it relegates the Grauniad’s anti-Police agenda on the G20 malarkey.
“Every stone is being turned to get accurate information or suggestions of impropriety and to show those MPs who lack honesty, integrity and conscience.”
Surely it would be easier to find one with honesty, integrity and no need of a guilty conscience…. If there is one…
Ho hum.
As I read in the Letters page of the Times: Rules are about what is allowed or not. Ethics is about what is right or wrong.
I notice that Cameron is making his MPs pay back the excessive claims, including one of his own. David – sorry, Dave old mate, you have it wrong. Paying back the money doesn’t make it right, welcom though that is. You shouldn’t have taken it in the first place!
Now we have the Chingford Skinhead (one N Tebbit) essentially advising people to vote UKIP at the Euroelections.
“Oh what a tangled web we weave…”
You’ll have burglars taking their booty back to the houses it came from next……..not.
Pangs of guilt ? No chance.
Caught red handed and when they realised that the normal tricks of denial or deflection are not working some might even consider they look like greedy self serving sods who are out for their own ends. Far too late for the honourable thing after the cat is out of the bag.
This has gone on under their own protection and cover for far too long. Honourable members ????? My arse.
Jeremy Vine on R2 was interesting today. He did bring up the point that, er, paying back monies that were not , er, earned as it were, does not obviate the intent. The politico squirmed a lot and lied too.
There is growing public anger over the apparant lavish expenses claims put in by MP’s. It seems that day by day it defies belief that they have abused the system for their benefit whilst expecting everyone else to play by different rules and limitations. The average claim by each MP rose from £135,000 to £144,000 over the past couple of years. This has also financed the employment of family members in some cases for doing nothing whilst at University as well as for claiming back for many things that should simply not be included. They have too much, for far too long and for giving far too little in return. They are not transparant, not accountable and are protected by the likes of the speaker of the house, all at taxpayers expense, simply because they operate in secrecy and want to remain that way. This will run for a bit and has not yet touched on the Euro political set up where you can bet that the same sort of dishonourable thing is taking place there as well.
As for Europe. I think it was the MP for Finland that blew a whistle a few years ago about the ‘travelling’ allowances for MEPs and how many members were taking the piss in the region of 10s of thousands of euros.
Well presented WEB and if you will excuse the pun, very much on the money.
Dr M. Appreciated.