Comments of a Nobody

The current, seemingly unending, outcry over over MPs expenses claims in the UK has galvanized the public into a state of revulsion over the way that tax payers money has been abused. Some are clearly oversights, but others would appear to be downright fraudulent. In the meantime the political parties seem to trying to outdo each other in trying to appear humble, show regret and make great shows of repaying money. Unfortunately this scandal has only re-enforced our views of politicians, in that we see them as self-serving, power hungry and quite happy to screw the taxpayer for every penny possible. This is, of course, not entirely true; most MPs enter politics for entirely worthy reasons. Many will say they were only following the rules, although there is always a difference between the letter and the spirit of a rule. They are not helped by some politicians saying that they were blissfully unaware that they were claiming for expenses that had not incurred, such as claiming for a mortgage that had in fact already completed its term for example.

All this has clearly been going on for years and has led to a particular culture of claiming for expenses within the House of Commons. One question we should perhaps ask is why had no-one noticed before?

We do need to be careful with all this though. Most MPs do need a second home in London in order for them to carry out their duties. I would argue that these MPs should be able to make some sort of reasonable claim for this. If they are not able to claim then this rules out all but the very wealthy from entering politics. Is this what we really want? One radical suggestion that has been put forward is that MPs’ second home should be some sort of halls of residence, therefore at one stroke eliminating all issues of claiming for mortgages and various extravagances. I cannot see this idea being particularly welcomed by MPs, but clearly they need to win back our trust.

Another danger is that the current mistrust and disillusionment with the mainstream political parties will allow minority parties to fill the vacuum. One such party looking to step into this vacuum is the British National Party who have been putting themselves forward as a party untainted by the excesses of Westminster. They like to miss out the fact that they are racist bigots from their publicity material. Within the current climate there is a real danger that they will make significant gains in the forthcoming European and local elections.

So, I say to our MPs whose job it is to represent our interests - now is the time to win back our trust.