Expenses – cheaters never prosper

By Julian Ware-Lane

I think it is in the public interest to disclose what MPs are claiming for in expenses, and the Daily Telegraph seems to be doing the right thing. Their commentary – A scandal at the heart of our democracy – rightly states that is not a party political issue. However, in only reporting on Cabinet members so far, it does come across as a swipe at the Government.

The rules are certainly in need of drastic overhaul. These rules date back to the 1980s, and were introduced as a back-door way of improving MPs remuneration. That these rules have been taken advantage of is less an indictment of MPs and more of the human condition – only the saintly few can resist the lure of lucre.

I happen to believe that MPs are not underpaid – circa £64,000 seems a fairly good whack to me. Those occupying front benches do have a difficult job, and attract additional allowances (rightly so). But most of our MPs are glorified social workers and baby-kissers. My own representative, David Amess, is a good example of what two decades of under-achieving mediocrity looks like. I don’t wish to be rude, but I do wonder what he has achieved.

MPs are effectively small businesses. Staff are hired, office rented, second homes secured – these are not luxuries. Yet the devil is in the detail. I don’t think the public want monastic abstinence from the good things in life for our MPs, but they will not tolerate extravagance – and this is what it is beginning to look like.

Mistakes have occurred in claiming expenses, and if the media take no cognizance of this then they will damage their argument. To err is human.

But repeated over-claiming is cheating, and cheats should never prosper.