MPs' Allowances
As usual there is spin going on at this moment about MPs' allowances. One spin is that the vast majority of MPs have not milked the system. How will we ever know?
There is also a view that this debacle will affect the next election. By next June, the country will have moved on and most MPs sitting in safe seats will be returned by voters who always vote the way they do without ever considering their position. The upshot of this is that the allowance system is unlikely to change fundamentally. For instance, no politician has seriously suggested that they should not fund the purchase of a second house via the taxpayer. It would be radical if they were offered a room in a hotel for the nights that the house sits and that any other expense has to be justified by receipts and explanations. After all the rest of us have to do that either with our employers or the Inland Revenue.
Another doubt is nagging me. It would appear that our national politicians are not above profiting from practices which are at least morally wrong. Can we therefore be certain that there are no other honeypots on offer which they have all steadfastly avoided sampling? After all, it is alleged that members of the House of Lords have succombed to those sorts of temptations.
website http://robthill.wordpress.com
There is also a view that this debacle will affect the next election. By next June, the country will have moved on and most MPs sitting in safe seats will be returned by voters who always vote the way they do without ever considering their position. The upshot of this is that the allowance system is unlikely to change fundamentally. For instance, no politician has seriously suggested that they should not fund the purchase of a second house via the taxpayer. It would be radical if they were offered a room in a hotel for the nights that the house sits and that any other expense has to be justified by receipts and explanations. After all the rest of us have to do that either with our employers or the Inland Revenue.
Another doubt is nagging me. It would appear that our national politicians are not above profiting from practices which are at least morally wrong. Can we therefore be certain that there are no other honeypots on offer which they have all steadfastly avoided sampling? After all, it is alleged that members of the House of Lords have succombed to those sorts of temptations.
website http://robthill.wordpress.com
