Instead of hanging their heads in shame, as most of us would do, Members of Parliament – from all parties – have defended their over excessive use of the parliamentary expenses system, by saying they have done nothing wrong and have only claimed what is allowable under the rules.
Some have said a half hearted “sorry” but whether they are “sorry” for what they have done, or they are “sorry” for being found out, we will probably never know.
Of course, some would call them corrupt but in legal terms they are not. Morally, though, they are guilty of corrupting and abusing a system that has relied on common sense and trust, knowing there was little effective scrutiny of their sometimes laughable claims.
The Daily Telegraph has been justified in releasing such details to an increasingly angry public.
MPs, however, do not agree and are requesting that the police investigate the leak of such sensitive and damaging information.
It would have been far better for the politicians, if the details had not been made public until the long weeks of their summer recess from Parliament. They could then have been sunning themselves on exotic beaches, or spending time in their ‘second home’ hideaways and inaccessible to the media. They would have hoped that by the time Parliament had reconvened, the story would have been long forgotten.
Several MPs have even dared to suggest they are entitled to such large expenses because they are paid a low salary for what they do. Those of us who are working for less than £68,000 per year, before allowances are added into the equation, might not agree.
Several of them have even had the arrogance to comment, that if they were working for private corporations they would be paid a lot more than they are presently being paid. My answer to that is go and get a job in the private sector – if you can – after all, you must be working very hard to be able to afford the time to claim for a bar of chocolate and similar!!
Whatever argument they use in attempting to justify their claims, the fact remains that while cancer patients are being refused life prolonging drugs because there is no available budget and pensioners cannot afford to heat their meagre homes, MP’s are milking the public purse for all they can get, while they claim for every luxury imaginable.
I have been writing on this subject for almost two years and the temptation is to be very angry with the latest revelations. That is not the answer. The best way to express our contempt is to remove them all from Parliament at the first available opportunity.
The way things are going, we should not have too long to wait!!
