The process is wrong with MP’s policing the matter, the judgement is wrong, and the sanctions are weak.

The policing of expenses should be with members of the public like a jury…after all the public elect them. The sanction is to be thrown out of Parliament, charged with fraud.

How about we privatise the expenses system, and base the contract around targets to remove 50% of claimants from the system each year.

Some interesting comment from a Tory viewpoint here…

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/iainmartin1/100266642/maria-miller-is-ukips-mascot-for-the-european-elections/

I remember Radio 4 doing a report on the Japanese who have apartments for their legislative body, the maintenance costs are massive, because they are opulent even by japanese standards

can you imagine the cost of building apartments for all of our MPs? All 560 of them? then the endless furnishing costs? makes your eyes water….

I reckon the maximum allowable payment should be for the av cost of a 1bed flat anywhere within 8 miles of Westminster or the av cost of a 3 bed home in your constituency. No payments for furnishing

I’d be happy with a large upmarket halls of residence near Westminster. It would likely be cheaper to run than hotel bills and it would be an asset for the country
Its the profiteering that bothers me. If my company paid the interest on a mortgage for a weekday flat for me and I made a profit on the sale, HMRC would be all over it.

I’d be happy with a large upmarket halls of residence near Westminster.

How about we move them out of London. We could make use of those council blocks they were going to blow up in Glasgow instead? They could move their families in too. That pub at the bottom could double as a parliament building.

The detestable Hazel Blears said the same thing and smugly sat back safe in the knowledge no-one in Salford could think any further than voting Labour, even though she is the result.

Indeed. A shining example of ****ishness being a truly cross-party affliction

I remember Radio 4 doing a report on the Japanese who have apartments for their legislative body, the maintenance costs are massive, because they are opulent even by japanese standards

can you imagine the cost of building apartments for all of our MPs? All 560 of them? then the endless furnishing costs? makes your eyes water….

Why does it need to be opulent? A basic but comfortable standard should more than suffice. If I work away from home, I am expected to go for a modest hotel.

then the endless furnishing costs?

How often do you expect to replace furniture?

If my company paid the interest on a mortgage for a weekday flat for me and I made a profit on the sale, HMRC would be all over it.

Exactly!

Politicians seem to think that they are some sort of elite class. They aren’t. They are public servants.

She has to go. It is not even a political point, she cheated the system, she barely engaged with the process and her apology was , to put it mildly, unacceptable and not that believable.

Oh she engaged with it. I read all the publicly available email/letter transcripts between her and the commissioner. But she engaged in it in a way that basically said ‘no case to answer, why don’t you dismiss it’ while faling to answer commissioner’s quuestions. Then when she got found out for contradicting hereself, she appointed a lawyer to write about 30 pages on why she was being persecuted.

I cannot imagine how much time/money was spent in a year trying to write a report on what should be a simple matter. Whatever happens, the commissionershould be given the Nobel Peace Prize for patience.

http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/Standards%20Committee/2014-01-22%20MM%20Evidence%20website%20version.pdf it’ll take about a hour to read, but at the end you will get a real feel for where the power is… and the contempt for external scrutiny.

Politicians seem to think that they are some sort of elite class. They aren’t. They are public servants.

I can imagine the gales of laughter that interpretation of reality would be greeted by in one of the Westminster bars after a few brandies

Some of the anti-politician rhetoric on this thread is quite frankly ridiculous. It’s clearly nonsense to claim that all politicians are the same.

And it’s that sort of nonsense which plays straight into the hands of those with a right-wing anti-democratic agenda, such as Daily Mail columnists.

Yeah. I’ve seen that with boardroom execs who tell the all-staff meetings they are ‘a servant to the employees and the customers’. No-one believes them either, but at least they’re not funded – well directly anyway / bungs aside – from taxpayers money.

Some of the problem is no one useful wants to go into public service nowadays. And the ones that do, tend to have agendas that are not terribly public serving.

Actually, that’s a terrible generalisation. I’m sure there are many hard working MPs then genuinely care for their constituants. I just haven’t met one yet. Ours is Bill Wiggin, Majority tens of thousands. I’ve written to him about FoD sell off, etc. His replies (or the ones from his office) clearly show the value of my vote.

Churchill said it best “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

Still he also said ““The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”

It’s clearly nonsense to claim that all politicians are the same.

That’s an assertion that needs some examples to back it up.

Yeah, I can think of many politicians of the present breed that are worthy of respect. Erm……… Hang on, it’ll come to me….

No its no use. Every time I think of the houses of parliament, I just get this image in my head….

“It’s clearly nonsense to claim that all politicians are the same.”

That’s an assertion that needs some examples to back it up.

Of course it doesn’t need any examples to back it up.

And if you want to believe the gibberish nonsense that all politicians are the same then you’re hardly likely to be swayed by actual facts.

well she’s resigned (just heard on bbc news 😀

hopefully the police may have a little word now (no chance though 🙁

Of course it doesn’t need any examples to back it up

It does; that’s why I asked for some.

Instead you just dismiss the question and sneer that you know best. You aren’t in politics are you?

She had to go – otherwise Dave would have been toasted in PMQ’s today.

It has absolutely nothing at all with ‘me knowing best’, everyone knows full well that not all politicians are the same. So I see no reason why I should comply with your clearly ridiculous demand to prove that simple and indisputable fact. You are obviously looking for some sort of pointless argument.

She had to go…..

And there you completely contradict yourself ……why ‘did she have to go’ if all politicians are the same ? She will be simply replaced by someone exactly the same, according to you anyway.

You aren’t in politics are you?

Of course you are above politics, aren’t you ? I can tell by your air of superiority and the contemptuous and dismissive attitude with which you dismiss ALL politicians.

EDIT : And just to indulge you for a second, despite it being quite pointless, here is a thread where three weeks ago punters were queuing up to express that in their opinion, Tony Benn, famous for being a politician, was some sort of national treasure :

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/rip-tony-benn