Here we go again. Over the past few days the media have been crowing over the expenses claims made by MP’s that include maintenance of a swimming pool, the cost of repairing a leaking pipe underneath the tennis court at one Conservative MP's Somerset home, “flipping” of registered second homes for the purpose of avoiding Capital Gains Tax, a furniture bill that came to £7,000 and amongst other claims, a bill for the cost of replacing a few light bulbs which the MP in question defended by saying “I needed the attention of an electrician”.
However, let us not forget that Britain’s MP’s are sorry and as the Communities Secretary Hazel Blears put it are repaying the money because the public are “really, really angry” and "What's really important…is what people think about this issue and what people think about me" which can be taken to mean that the expenses swindle itself isn’t so much the issue as the fact she has been caught out and is now in trouble with the electorate.
Further to this though is the claim by Keith Vaz for £75,000 to fund a second home in London when his family home is just twelve miles away, and there are also claims that MP’s have profited from the sale of taxpayer funded second homes; all leading up to and in the middle of a financial crisis. Meanwhile the Speaker of the House has made a statement saying that such details must never be released to the public again, for "security reasons" (wink, wink), and that the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police is to be referred to the issue in the hope that the individual responsible for the leak that led to this story going public will be dealt with appropriately.
But of course, our MP’s are sorry – sorry that they got caught – and as a result are going to repay the money at the behest of Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg. Although it might be worth mentioning that this whole scandal and repayment of dodgy claims would not be necessary had the claims not been made in the first place.
However, let us not forget that Britain’s MP’s are sorry and as the Communities Secretary Hazel Blears put it are repaying the money because the public are “really, really angry” and "What's really important…is what people think about this issue and what people think about me" which can be taken to mean that the expenses swindle itself isn’t so much the issue as the fact she has been caught out and is now in trouble with the electorate.
Further to this though is the claim by Keith Vaz for £75,000 to fund a second home in London when his family home is just twelve miles away, and there are also claims that MP’s have profited from the sale of taxpayer funded second homes; all leading up to and in the middle of a financial crisis. Meanwhile the Speaker of the House has made a statement saying that such details must never be released to the public again, for "security reasons" (wink, wink), and that the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police is to be referred to the issue in the hope that the individual responsible for the leak that led to this story going public will be dealt with appropriately.
But of course, our MP’s are sorry – sorry that they got caught – and as a result are going to repay the money at the behest of Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg. Although it might be worth mentioning that this whole scandal and repayment of dodgy claims would not be necessary had the claims not been made in the first place.
DL
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