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Originally Posted by Cromwell1900
I did not know that. But take the Expenses scandal.... etc. etc. etc.
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The expenses scandal did go unexposed for years, I agree. I have to say though that the majority of MPs were completely in the clear. In fact, very few broke the law, or there would have been more prosecutions. While some MPs, while acting legally, did milk the system, many did not. A couple of the MPs I work with published their expenses online every year long before the expenses scandal broke.
Since the scandal, the way MPs claim expenses has changed radically and it’s now controlled by IPSA – the Independent Parliamentary Standard Authority. What this now means is that MPs can still claim for almost everything they used to claim for, but the paperwork is much more complicated and much more evidence has to be provided. The ones who are actually being penalised are MPs staff who now have double the work to do on expenses while finding it much more difficult and complicated to claim expenses themselves.
I also think they should be “above it all” but the trouble with that is that they are human beings. What’s more, aside from the expenses they (legally) claim, MPs earn around about £60,000. The responsibility they take is massive, and they could be out on their ear in four years or sooner if things go drastically wrong. In terms of a managerial salary in industry, £60k isn’t even middle management. That means that a political career is much more attractive to people who already come from money and is less attractive to someone who is working class or middle class, who with a good education can earn a lot more elsewhere.
Having said all that, I could easily pick out 20% of them who should be up against the wall come the revolution.