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Talking Politics
Expenses scandal's enduring potential
Tue Nov 03 02:24PM
MPs have been fervently praying Sir Christopher Kelly's expenses review will finally put the scandal to bed. As the last few days have shown, this one is going to run all the way to polling day.It turns out it's the new expenses watchdog which has the power to "edit" Sir Christopher's reforms. "The prime minister is never powerless, in any sense," Gordon Brown's spokesman insisted yesterday in response to the suggestion this meant he couldn't do anything about the recommendations. Assembled journalists were rather amused, but the neurosis underlying the remark was rather telling.
Throughout the expenses scandal Downing Street has been afflicted by a knee-jerk impulse to get involved. Brown's initial proposals for reform were warmly rebuffed by MPs; now, in the run-up to Sir Christopher's root-and-branch recommendations, the government has waded in with its usual blustering confidence.
On Sunday Harriet Harman pressured Kelly to water down his leaked proposal to ban MPs' spouses from working with their other halves. On Monday Brown pressured Kelly to make sure future MPs wouldn't be put off. No 10 commissioned the report, but won't be charged with implementing it. That doesn't seem to be of great concern to those in power. It's not helping, as the very quiet David Cameron realises.
Nor is the state of play in parliament, where MPs find themselves confronted with the latest demands from Sir Thomas Legg. Having initially quibbled with MPs about minor claims, the expenses auditor is now moving on to much bigger mortgage interest queries. Those who fail to provide statements could find themselves forced to pay the money back.
Regardless of Kelly, the ongoing grumbling about his imposition of retrospective rules will ensure the story gets talked about as autumn turns to winter. Most MPs have realised they should pay up and keep as quiet as possible. But many find themselves in different circumstances. The size of the majority to be defended, the extent of the abuses, make each case different. Those who feel they've been wronged will not hesitate to speak out.
In doing so they are demonstrating the self-interest which got them into this mess in the first place. Collectively it makes complete sense for MPs to quietly engage in damage-limitation as much as possible. Yet those who find themselves having to pay back tens of thousands of powers must put number one first. By so doing they prolong the agony for everyone else, increasing the scandal's potency at the coming general election.
MPs were reminded of public anger by Peter Tatchell and his band of protestors outside parliament on Friday. The Vote for a Change coalition was calling for electoral reform, but its Halloween theme could just as easily apply to the parliament of the living dead. Come polling day the expenses scandal is going to finish many of today's lawmakers for good.
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This has proved that they are criminals and only interested in themselves.The RULES should have been changed a long time ago.They have,knowingly,abused the system and they should ALL go NOW.
I feel sick when I see them on TV-they disgust Me.They are ALL guilty and should be prosecuted.The whole of Our system is corrupt and needs a complete overhaul but not by this bunch of crooks.
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I could not agree more with peter.roberts50 comment above. I too feel nothing but loathing and disgust for this lot. They lie effortlessly and when they get caught out, seem to think that all they have to say is sorry. They will be the sorry ones OK come the election. Good riddance.
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Oh for Goodness sake, can't we end this. Call an Election now, how ever inconvenient it may be. None of those accused should be allowed to stand in the next election. If after the election of a new Parliament, they are found to be 'innocent', then they should be allowed to stand at any subsequent elections. Going on and on and on about this despicable mess, will only make it worse than it already is. Call an Election, let the voters decide and the new Parliament make the New Rules.
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i find it amusing that brown "is not powerless..." over this issue... so much to say that if he does not approve of the recomendations put forward by the very person he nominated, then that makes the whole issue a waste of time money and effort... which basically runs true to what this govn't is... a waste of time, money and effort.
untill the 'elected members' realise that they are there to serve us, the general public, and not to look after there own pockets, we will continue to have corruption at the highest level of public sector servents...
no matter what political party he or she belongs to... they are all corrupt, greedy, selfish, arrogant criminals, and we the public, are encouraging them by not standing up and being heard.
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This is going to run, and run, and run. It's going away anytime soon and that's because most of the public can now see some of what they have been up to in the name of 'representing the public'. Furthermore, it is now very apparent that they have a different set of rules for themselves and that they are not bound by those they set up for the majority.
There's nothing new in this, it's been going on for a very long time.
Their rules apply to whomever they please, whenever they please, and in that respect what we now need is "one rule for all - absolutely no exceptions."
We also need a constitution set in stone, not one made up as we go along - to suit the 'executive'. It's something we have long needed, but also something they have long avoided. To those who continue to state that we need to evolve, I would say that you play right into their hands. We need change, change for the better. The only reason 'they' prefer to evolve is that in effect it suits them and their purposes, little gets changed and we, the public, just get more hot air. Talk is cheap, I for one have had more than enough talk. Time for real change, and the first step is to use our votes to remove the tin gods from public office. The second is not to keep repeating the same old mistake, that of electing and empowering the other main political party - because the only real difference is in their name.
We need new people, with fresh ideas.
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This is going to run, and run, and run. It's going away anytime soon and that's because most of the public can now see some of what they have been up to in the name of 'representing the public'. Furthermore, it is now very apparent that they have a different set of rules for themselves and that they are not bound by those they set up for the majority.
There's nothing new in this, it's been going on for a very long time.
Their rules apply to whomever they please, whenever they please, and in that respect what we now need is "one rule for all - absolutely no exceptions."
We also need a constitution set in stone, not one made up as we go along - to suit the 'executive'. It's something we have long needed, but also something they have long avoided. To those who continue to state that we need to evolve, I would say that you play right into their hands. We need change, change for the better. The only reason 'they' prefer to evolve is that in effect it suits them and their purposes, little gets changed and we, the public, just get more hot air. Talk is cheap, I for one have had more than enough talk. Time for real change, and the first step is to use our votes to remove the tin gods from public office. The second is not to keep repeating the same old mistake, that of electing and empowering the other main political party - because the only real difference is in their name.
We need new people, with fresh ideas.
Report abuse
Sorry, post 6 was supposed to have incorporated a correction * in the first line, I haven't got a clue what happened - gremlin somewhere I suspect.
::
This is going to run, and run, and run. It's *not going away anytime soon and that's because most of the public can now see some of what they have been up to in the name of 'representing the public'. Furthermore, it is now very apparent that they have a different set of rules for themselves and that they are not bound by those they set up for the majority.
There's nothing new in this, it's been going on for a very long time.
Their rules apply to whomever they please, whenever they please, and in that respect what we now need is "one rule for all - absolutely no exceptions."
We also need a constitution set in stone, not one made up as we go along - to suit the 'executive'. It's something we have long needed, but also something they have long avoided. To those who continue to state that we need to evolve, I would say that you play right into their hands. We need change, change for the better. The only reason 'they' prefer to evolve is that in effect it suits them and their purposes, little gets changed and we, the public, just get more hot air. Talk is cheap, I for one have had more than enough talk. Time for real change, and the first step is to use our votes to remove the tin gods from public office. The second is not to keep repeating the same old mistake, that of electing and empowering the other main political party - because the only real difference is in their name.
We need new people, with fresh ideas.
Report abuse
Hopefully more and more of the "I acted within the rules" MPs will continue to moan about Sir Christopher Kelly's recommendations. This will ensure they each place a final nail in their respective coffins because the electorate will be empowered to hammer it in. No one should vote for their MP if they've been caught swapping homes, fiddling or just being downright greedy by supposedly employing family members or claiming mortgages for same. If the next Parliament starts with a clean sheet we'll finally move on.
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Stevenson, you squalid bandwagon-jumper - can you not think of anything more timely and relevant to remark upon? You've done this one to death; the only people remotely interested are the usual "well I ain't got all that money so why should they?" knee-jerking muppets, and each article you lazily pen on the subject reaffirms your status as a comedy "journalist".
It's like Simon Cowell on the telly, spouting nonsenses while behind him the crowd of wondow-lickers hoots and squawks, for all the world like seals at feeding time.....
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Stevenson, you squalid bandwagon-jumper - can you not think of anything more timely and relevant to remark upon? You've done this one to death; the only people remotely interested are the usual "well I ain't got all that money so why should they?" knee-jerking muppets, and each article you lazily pen on the subject reaffirms your status as a comedy "journalist".
It's like Simon Cowell on the telly, spouting nonsenses while behind him the crowd of window-lickers hoots and squawks, for all the world like seals at feeding time.....
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