Monday, March 30, 2009

One rule for them.....

Well I'm going to have my three penn'orth about the sleazy MP's and their "expenses".

I find it ludicrous that any sane person can believe that it's OK to claim thousands - tens of thousands in some cases, and in the worst cases almost £200,000 for "expenses" that seem to range from miscellaneous porn films as reported by today's media to lavish furnishings for second homes (leass than 10 miles away from primary homes in some cases).

OK, so Jacqui Smith didn't watch the "blue film" (as one radio station today reported it - haven't heard that term in a while), but even if it was her husband, how the hell can pay per view films be classed as a parliamentary expense????

And someone else spent almost a grand on an antique fireplace. Get an electric fire for God's sake. This is my money you're spending!!

I work for a company where I'm lucky if I can claim £18 for an evening meal if I'm away for the night, and absolutely cannot claim for any alcohol. Taxi's are severely frowned upon - walk, get a bus - but a taxi - no sireee. Any even then I have to produce original receipts before they'll reimburse me.

An MP though appears to be able to spend a shedload of taxpayers (that's you and me) dosh on anything they fancy, and don't even have to provide proof. Lavish new curtains? Certainly sir. Furnishings for a second home (oh actually it's my parents house just down the road from my own house, but don't tell anyone). Certainly sir. A little something for the weekend - no questions asked.

At the very least it could be deemed gross misconduct, and if it were me that'd be me out of my job before you could say "nice new carpet".

But generally, where I come from they call it fraud, and it's a criminal offence.

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