I'm about to do something very unpopular. I'm going to defend MPs. My reasoning is very simple. There have been some MPs who have been downright dishonest. There are others who have claimed everything they could, but have stayed within the rules. The vast majority - lest we forget - have been honest. They are the people I am defending.
If I was told by HMRC that something I had claimed for the past five years was no longer allowable and then they presented me with a bill, I wouldn't pay it. I would take them to court. It is a basic principal of natural justice that rules and laws cannot be used retrospectively. What Sir Thomas Legg has done is precisely this. The party leaders are falling over themselves to show how tough they are. David Cameron has told Conservative MPs to pay up or be sacked. This grandstanding sounds good and smacks of firm leadership, but Brown, Cameron and Clegg are missing the point by wanting their MPs not to make any fuss. Brown wants to draw a line under this and knows some of his MPs will challenge Sir Thomas, but when some MPs speak out and say this simply isn't fair, they are correct. It's not and none of us would put up with it in our daily working lives.
We can argue all day if it is right or wrong for MPs to claim for a cleaner or a gardener, the facts are it was legal and proper to do so under the old rules and the amounts claimed were deemed reasonable too. Yes, the rules were very lax. Yes, the public was quite rightly outraged at the antics of some 'honourable' members. Yes, new, tougher rules need to be put in place to protect the reputation of parliament. I don't disagree with any of that, but Gordon Brown should not have to pay back £12,000. The prime minister has his failings and no-one can accuse me of being a fan of his, but I know Gordon was not trying to fiddle his expenses. I imagine he is very fastidious in these matters. Conservative MP Nadine Dorries has received a bill for £241. She has been told by Legg she claimed for a telephone bill, twice. She has been through her accounts and says she has not. What is she to do? Fight her corner and risk the wrath of the leadership, or pay-up knowing she is not guilty of the crime?
Sir Thomas Legg has done parliament and the country as disservice. Instead of trying to identify the fiddlers and cheats, he has labelled the majority of MPs fiddlers and cheats. It may be for political expediency that Gordon Brown decides to dig deep in his pockets and wants his MPs to do likewise. The same applies to David Cameron and Nick Clegg, however, it is wrong. If I was an MP today who has carefully filled in my expenses form and was then told to pay back money I had legally claimed for, I would be hopping mad. Many of them are, and who can blame them?
4 comments:
He hasn't a legg to stand on.
Sorry.
I think that the MPs should pay it back. Infact I think there should be an investigation into all those other government areas where public tax payers money has been stolen. Why don't you start by examing the MOD or the FO. I know there are millions being wasted in these areas.
Grr I'm just re-reading your comments and I'm even more annoyed than I was a few moments ago.
Gordon Brown owes £12k, THIS IS SMALL CHANGE to him.. sorry.. How much money does he earn a year? He flys all over the world, stays in top hotels, has a grace and favour house! He won't have to pay when he eats out, he won't be paying to get on trains or taxi or car, I'm sorry, but this isn't a lot of money to him.
As for whether the money is from a retrospective blah blah.. whatever excuse you have forget it. You know full well when people are puting claims in for plugs and stamps that this is something they shouldn't be doing. The paperwork alone to put the claim in (in some cases) probably costs more than the claim itself. When Gordon Brown visits other countries are you seriously telling me he pays for the food, travel, expenses, hotel room, NO course he doesn't.. and he doesn't stay in cheap accomodation either, and in some cases he will be traveling with partner and children.. not 3rd class either.. but 1st class! and for free!!! I'm sorry.. but I don't care what type of MP you are, if you are daft enough to claim for something minor or major and think you can get away with it. you can't. so pay it back.
I notice you never revealed how much you have to pay back Andrew!.. wonder why? could it be that it is a lot! God! I'm actually more annoyed now.. Dream on if you think I'm voting Conservative.
You are displaying the politics of envy, Baz. I never thought I would be defending Gordon Brown on this blog, but we put in claims for amount of hours he payed a cleaner in his second home. He wasn't trying to cheat the taxpayer. Now Legg decides to put a cap on how much he can claim and issues a retrospective bill. I think this wrong. Make up new rules that apply from today, but do not issue retrospective invoices.
My financial affairs are my business. It does not involve expenses and public money, however, I decided to talk about it, so I will tall you and anyone who cares to read this what the amounts involved are. £13K to pay off a home improvement loan, which has added value to the property and £7K on my credit card. I haven't been living it up. Indeed when you are self-employed, there are times you have to purchase advertising, etc., for your business. At times it doesn't always work out, especially during the current recession. I also made a bad business decision many years ago which cost me dearly. Those two things amount for the majority of my credit card bill.
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