The fiasco that is MP's expenses

Well I have to be honest I find it very distasteful that the beacons of our communities and mouth pieces for democracy are at it again. There is an ounce of hypocrisy here! For example, I dare you try not paying for your TV licence, your taxes or worse still I dare you not to pay your council tax? Now lets start to stretch the imagination here - I dare you to publicly shout down the government about its foreign policy and let's see if you don't get arrested under the Terrorism Act? Some might argue that we live in a nanny state where the government would be delighted to control every aspect of our lives! So why is it then that when we the common people need to abide by laws and pay our way through life is it that MP's feel that they do not? I have to pay for my petrol to get to work, pay for the sandwich that I eat and pay for the dry cleaning of my suits... If you think that MP's have it good I would love to see what local councillors are doing with their expenses? The expenses scandal: Another day of revelations: (The shaming of Parliament Author: By Andrew Grice and Michael Savage) The minister and his nappies Immigration Minister Phil Woolas claimed for items of women's clothing as well tampons and nappies. The millionairess's £25,000 for security Barbara Follett, the Tourism Minister, claimed for private security patrols outside her London home at a cost of over £25,000. Also expensed was claims for more than £600 a year for pest control services and £528.75 in cleaning bills for a Chinese rug, of which only £300 was reimbursed. Vaz's 17 silk cushions Head of the Home Affairs Select Committee claimed £75,500 to buy and furnish his central London flat, despite living with his wife in a £1.15 million property just 12 miles away. Bradshaw's lucrative mortgage arrangement The Health Minister and Exeter MP switched the designation of his second home to a property he shares with his partner in Hammersmith, west London. Although the couple initially split the mortgage costs, Mr Bradshaw, - who became the first MP to enter into civil partnership - now claims the entire interest bill on the property, despite owning only half of it. £37,000 lavished on a small flat The Care Services Minister Phil Hope claimed more than £37,000 on refurbishing and furnishing a modest two-bedroom flat in south London. In just over four years the expense is understood to have covered home maintenance that included a new kitchen, wooden flooring and a dining room table. He also charged the taxpayer for a £120 new barbeque and £61 for gardening materials - despite Commons rules that say MPs can only claim for the cost of maintaining a garden. The Corby and East Northants MP responded he was acting within parliamentary rules and that the purchases were necessary to "live in a habitable residence and replacements only occurred when furniture and fittings were worn out." £200,000 profit on taxpayer-funded flat The former environment minister Barry Gardiner allegedly made a profit of nearly £200,000 after buying a Westminster flat and claiming thousands of pounds to renovate the property, before selling it on four year later. The Brent North MP's main home is only eight miles from Parliament. The £286 Christmas decorations claim The government's chief lawyer put through a £286 expenses claim for her Christmas tree and baubles. The solicitor general put the claim through as "miscellaneous items" but Commons officials spotted that the receipts were for decorations and refused to pay. £22,500 to treat dry rot The Luton MP apparently spent £22,500 of taxpayers' money treating dry rot at her and her husband's seaside house 100 miles from her constituency - days after switching her "second home" there. Over four years Ms Moran also spent thousands of pounds on three separate properties, switching between Westminster, Luton and Southampton and renovating each home in turn, according to the Telegraph. View full article here