Politicians have been claiming for everything from porn to duck houses to moat clearing while the economy around them crumbles and thousands of people are made unemployed.
The excuses have been coming in thick and fast – my personal favourite being Sir John Butterfill’s statement that he needed our public money to pay for his servants’ quarters.
But the apologies have been few and far between. Luton South MP Margaret Moran said she needed £30,000 of taxpayers’ money to treat dry rot in her partner’s home in Southampton, because it was essential to her work as an MP that she should be able to visit him.
Has she never heard of the telephone, or e-mail? I’ve heard they work wonders in linking people who live hundreds of miles away from each other. There was no apology and she did not, at first, even face the press after she was ‘outed’ as an expenses cheat.
GM Motors filed for bankruptcy just last week, and around 4,000 Vauxhall jobs in Luton are under threat as a result. You’d expect her to show at least a little bit of remorse for making these extravagant claims in the current climate.
Then, Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, was ‘outed’ for claiming £16.50 for a Remembrance Day reef and Labour MP Frank Cook claimed £5 for a Church collection.
Nine Cabinet members, including Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistar Darling, failed to pay Capital Gains Tax after claiming public money to help them fill in their tax forms, and more than 30 junior ministers followed suit. HM Revenue & Customs now say they will be mounting an investigation.
The resignations have been countless, but MPs who stay on until the next General Election could still receive an annual salary of more than £60,000 and a severance package of more than £30,000. Do they really deserve it for what they’ve done?
No they don’t.
