Last weekend’s ‘ministerial porn-viewing’ scandal and other expenses-related revelations have further undermined people’s (already fairly minimal) trust in politicians. Not since Marie-Antoinette uttered her callous words about cake has anyone shown such utter contempt for the chattering classes.
Ok, that might be over-statement. But the antics of Ms Smith and co feel like a kick in the teeth for those of us who play by the rules, pay our own way and generally do our best to be decent citizens rather than going all out to feather our own nests. We feel that rules and codes of conduct should apply not only to the ‘little people’, but to all, regardless of class; earnings; job status; or contacts.
There can be sensible exceptions: James Bond is ‘licensed to kill’ though the rest of us are not; this seems fair as he comes up against many more crazed baddies bent on world domination than the rest of us put together. However, I still think we’d object to Mr Bond claiming back money for his TV package, his blue trunks, or a second home in the Bahamas. (he probably does, but at least we don’t get our noses rubbed in it)
Let’s face it, unlike secret agents, politicians hold prominent, public positions and are supposed to be setting a good example. They have leadership roles and regularly adopt the moral highground, whether lambasting benefits cheats or accusing GPs of seedy ‘gentlemen’s’ agreements’. We therefore expect them to be squeaky clean themselves, hence our anger when we find out that they can ‘legitimately’ (?) claim back expenses for just about everything and nobody checks to ensure that these claims are accurate and fair.
If MPs are genuinely underpaid and need to supplement their ‘meagre’ salaries, they should be paid more – but explicitly: cynicism aside, they have an important role to play and we need to attract the best candidates into these jobs; we cannot simply rely on the enthusiasm of those with ‘vocations’ (the same should be true for the nursing profession!)
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