MPs expenses are producing much excitement at the moment; and many people didn’t vote in the European elections because they were so disgusted by the whole thing. But what is it that we really object to?
There seem to be a number of issues that should be addressed and these are becoming confused.
1 Extravagance; duck houses, farrow and ball paint, expensive bed linen,mock tudor beams.
MPs earn around £60k. Only 10% of the population earn over £40k. In a single income household earning £60k puts you in the top 5% of the population. People who earn more tend to spend more- not just by buying more stuff but by paying more for the stuff they buy. Its how Waitose stay in business. MPs propably buy expensive things with their own money too. They think its normal.
I wouldn’t want somebody to go through what I spend my money on. I recently spent £20 on lemons so as not to lose face at the school fair. And I have considered a volcanic limestone bath…MPs are spending money that is not theirs as if it were. This is what the rules tell them they can do.
MPs are not being corrupt here. However it demonstrates our MPs are not in touch with the population, that they don’t live as most people do.
If we want politicans who are aware of the problems faced by most people we should have asked some more searching questions at election time.
2 fraudulent expenditure
MPs have defended themselves by talking about the rules and how these need to be changed. However some expenditure has clearly been outside of these rules or so clearly wrong that MPs should have known not to do it. I refer to married MPs both claiming 2 home allowances and claiming mortgage interest for non-existent mortgages. Press reports suggest that the former has upset people more. But this is where out indignation should be focused. Its not as entertaining as mock tudor beams or 2 toilet seats but much more important.
3 MPs claiming for low value items
You can’t have it both ways- (see 1) MPs should not be extravagant but shouldn’t claim for low value item?
Be reasonable. This is actually OK.
Also they can add up- I travel for business frequently and find that the amount I spend on water alone is considerable.
4 Mistakes
One MP was being lampooned in the press for claiming his council tax twice in 6 months. This is clearly wrong BUT the full story emerged and showed that he had claimed his council tax twice in 6 months- but had then realised and repaid it. He repaid it before it was discovered by the press and I think therefore suggests genuine error.
The Chancellors £700 service charge may fall into this category. H claimed for his service charges as he paid them (6 monthly in advance). 2 months into the period he moved and didn’t repay the remaining 4 months. clearly he should have but I’m not sure that this wouldn’t have slipped through my otherwise excellent administrative procedures in the same situation.
A major area of difference exists at the moment between the 2 political parties regarding the use of fiscal policy. This is the biggest division in British politics since the 1982 election. Labour is pro-fiscal stimulus, the conservatives against. This is a huge ideological difference that could impact on the lives of ordinary people in way that MPs expenses never would. WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT THAT
Tags: fiscal policy, MPs expenses, politics
June 21, 2009 at 3:35 pm |
I too have been sifting and sorting MPs and their expenses in my mind, but without paying much attention to the actual receipts, and have come up with the following list:
1) The absent-minded – at one time I was getting gas bills from both NPower and British Gas (a confusion over which meter applied to which flat in a converted building). I was working abroad at the time and doing paperwork once every three months or so, and the only reason I didn’t pay both bills was that British Gas wanted 400 quid for heating an empty 2 bedroom flat. In the summer. If it had been 40 quid, I’d have paid up. Disrupted lives lived in more than one place mean mistakes of this sort happen, particularly if you don’t like paperwork.
2) The opportunists – I have colleagues who are told that they can claim up to a fiver out of pocket without receipts and so they do regardless. These are the ones who will eat out to get their twenty quid’s worth of meal allowance, rather than grabbing something from the station because it is quicker, easier and (in the case of a salad from M&S) healthier.
3) The anally retentive – these are the people who claim for bath-plugs because they should. Bath plugs are on the list. The list must be obeyed. If I could be bothered, and I really cannot, I’d check to see what mappings there are between the pettiness of the claims and adherence to the letter of the law. I’d bet my next twenty quid meal allowance that the petty claims are entirely faultless.
4) The opportunists – Oh look, if we flip our homes then we can avoid capital gains. Again, they adhere to the letter of the law, but they don’t faff around with bath plugs; they go for the £50k of tax avoidance.
5) The criminally fraudulent – Claiming for paid off mortgages. Claiming twice on the same property. Nuff said.
6) The amateurs – At what point does having your spouse or daughter help out turn into nepotism? The moment you start paying. But the process of becoming an MP involves long hours of hard slog and it makes complete sense that supportive spouses, especially ones with organisational skills, pick up some of the workload. It’s a way to share the burden and share time. I think it should be illegal for MPs to pay family members for work done. The family members should either do the work for free, or not do the work at all. There is just too much scope for abuse, here.
7) The thoughtless ones with a sense of entitlement – “Of course I can choose Farrow and Ball, or claim for a Duck House, or have my Moat cleaned. That’s what I would choose if I was paying for it myself”. I will bet the twenty quid meal allowance after next that none of the people claiming for any of these things ever thought they were doing wrong, because they never thought about it at all.
Hmmmm.
Should I blog about this one myself?
B
June 21, 2009 at 5:13 pm |
Not a dissimilar list. People seem more upset about the thoughtless than the fraudulent which worries me.