The MP’s expenses scandal shows no sign of abating. The reaction on the doorstep over the weekend has been ‘interesting’. The most common reaction from those that bring up the subject is to say that they are not going to vote at all and that all the parties are a bad as each other. I often wonder if people who take that view ever stop to think about the person who has just canvassed them. Activists from all parties are getting the same reaction but why do so many of us carry on knocking on doors?
The answer is probably a mixture of things. Most people who get as far as being politically active are driven by the belief that their party offers the best policies / philosophy / programme and that electing their candidates will make a real difference. I’m sure that most activists are as appalled by the behaviour of some MP’s as the general public are. In fact probably more so as in many constituencies years of hard work will have been undone or severely damaged by their actions.
The silver lining in all this must be that surely now we will have reform both of the expenses system and a wider look at how our democracy works or too often does not work at both national and local level. What would really make a difference though would be if some of those who express the view that ‘all politicians are the same’ actually decided to make a difference themselves and get involved to ensure that not all politicians are the same.
4 comments:
Well surely you and your colleagues could 'act locally, think globally' and set an example at the Town Hall.
Expenses for Councillors for what the job entails are too high and have increased year on year.
Your Mill Hill Focus leaflet rounded on all kinds of waste, including 'fat cat' Officers but strangely made no mention of excessive Councillors allowances, now over £1million a year. Is the cosey Town Hall pact of silence over this issue still in play?
Serving on the Council should be a public service not a 'nice little earner' as it is to so many people, eg Councilor ThirtyGrandBourides
The problem with Councillor allowances as I see it is the stacking of SRA's (special responsibility allowances) many of which require very little extra work and are doled out with the expectation of total loyalty to the administration or else! They are a corrupting influence.
I think councillors should be paid a reasonable basic allowance with a small extra payment for the first additional responsibility. I also think we should cut the number of allowances including no allowance for vice chairs and no allowance for political posts such as group secretary.
Duncan
I think the voluntary political activists are definitely more upset by this scandal that the general public. The public have been saying “you are all the same” long before the current revelations made the headlines.
Even if all the culprits were Labour MPs, I would take no delight in this situation. I used to be proud of our democratic system. Sure, there was the occasional rotten apple, but on the whole I thought our politicians were honourable and beyond reproach as compared to the corrupt despots in parts of South America and Africa.
Like so many others, I feel totally let down and disheartened. We hear rumours that Gordon Brown will sack Jacqui Smith and Hazel Blears after the Euro election. Why the delay? They should have been sacked last week.
Every sitting MP in the country should now be forced to go through a fresh re-selection process so that their expenses can be examined and scrutinised by their local parties. Only those who can justify every penny they have claimed should be allowed to stand again.
All Mps should be charged with fraud, if they claimed for things that are not suspose to, as any other public person would have been by now!!!!
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