The Times other story about the scandal of MPs expenses clearly demonstrates that when it comes to shoving their snouts into the trough, some members of our political elite are quite out of control.
As The Times reports (HERE), one claim was made for a Plasma TV and a fish tank. What is almost remarkable than that fact alone is that the Commons authorities allowed the claim. The fact of the making of the claim is a real jawdropper in the first place but that it was allowed is mind-boggling.
Holly Watt and Robert Winnett go on in their excellent piece to reveal that in the run up to Christmas 2006 there was a sudden run of applications for iPods.
As MPs gobble up £87 million in expenses a year at the moment, there is a clear and urgent need for them to be reined in. Nobody thinks they should be deprived of expenses and allowances that genuinely reflect the work that is necessary for them to hold Government to account but one is quite confident that a fish tank or a nice iPod at Christmas is not necessary for that task.
One way in which all these excesses could be curbed is by placing online a register of MPs and Peer’s expenses with full details of all claims made (even if disallowed) together with their supporting materials. This is particularly important given MPs current desire to hide their expenses from the Taxpayer by their disgraceful support (mostly from the Government, in particular the Whips Office) for MP David Maclean’s Freedom of Amendment Bill 2007 which will have the legal effect of permitting MPs to refused to reveal their expenses.
Quite why MPs are unable to follow the excellent example of Phillip Hollobone, Conservative MP for Kettering who only claims £50,000 (the average being £131,000), is a matter for anxious debate.
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