State Spongers Fear Pilfering Clampdown: The Little List Begins

Posted on January 30, 2008
Filed Under Politics |

There are vast legions of people in Britain who sponge off the hard work and tax money of the honest majority.

They are the creeping parasites who suck dry the savings and livelihoods of decent, hardworking citizens and their families. They filch every last penny from the state for frivolous, fraudulent schemes and fritter it away on bolstering a profligate lifestyle to which they are not entitled and which the taxpayer should not have to fund.

They are the scroungers and scavengers on the state, who are bleeding this country dry.

They have to be stopped.

As Peter Lilley said: “I have a little list”. Except this is not a list of single mothers and disabled people. This is the list of MPs and their families, acolytes, hangers-on and cheerleaders who are all deriving a living from the public purse at the expense of the taxpayer.

BBC News has this:

The row over Derek Conway’s use of his parliamentary allowances may have taken some of the heat off Labour as it continues to suffer from its funding crisis.

But, as the initial furore started to die down, the expression “a can of worms” could be heard echoing throughout Westminster.

And some backbenchers were expressing real fears that there may now be a prolonged and highly-damaging war of attrition as each side attempts to get the dirt on its opponents - something that will do little to rebuild the tarnished reputation of the Commons.  […]

But the fact that some MPs have recently been seen attempting to exempt themselves from freedom of information laws and that there have been ongoing disputes over exactly how transparent they should be over their finances seems to have boosted demands for complete openness.

If the feared war of attrition does indeed now break out, those demands are bound to get louder.

Oh, come on! Haven’t you spongers learnt the mantra you are always trying to foist on the public?

If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.

UPDATE:

The Guardian has this:

MPs should be subjected to greater checks on how they spend taxpayer-funded allowances, a sleaze watchdog said today in the wake of the Derek Conway affair.

Sir Christopher Kelly, chair of the committee on standards in public life, said that the Tory MP censured for paying his student son too much money had undermined public trust in politics.

And he did not rule out a possible future ban on MPs employing members of their families.

[…]

Kelly said: “This case is undoubtedly a very serious breach of parliamentary rules and further undermines public trust in our politicians.

“I understand why there are calls for rules to ban MPs employing members of their families, and indeed, there are international precedents for doing this, and it could be the right thing to do.

“However, it could also seem a rather harsh answer to the problem.

“An alternative approach would be to insist on greater transparency and proper monitoring of existing requirements which is generally better than creating new rules and prohibitions.”

He went on: “This is certainly an area which needs review. Before deciding on whether this is a task for my committee, I would want to see what action parliament itself proposes to take.

“I know that many MPs will share the view that the actions of a few can bring all of them into disrepute.”

It is doubtful whether the actions of a few MPs or the whole lot of them collectively could actually make them appear more disreputable than they already are. There are limits.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you keep informed by subscribing to the RSS feed! Also, look for the links (top right) to listen to or download the available podcasts.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Related Posts

Comments

Share your ignorance insights with the rest of the world.




Bad Behavior has blocked 376 access attempts in the last 7 days.