Our political corruption scandal in Britain continues. It is a scandal of epidemic proportions causing outrage throughout Britain.
Last month, the Daily Telegraph, the bastion of conservative values, got its hands on the hard drive of all the expenses of all 648 members of Parliament.
Have our Parliamentarians been milking the taxpayers? To an believable degree.
A Member of Parliament receives a basic wage of £64,000 per year but making claims for their second home (one in London and one in their constituency) many received a total income/expenditure of up to around £150,000 per year. While it is within the law to make the claim for a second, it was not intended to be used to make money through every conceivable means possible – large sums and small ones.
One MP clamed £22,500 for treating dry rot at her partner’s home 100 miles from her constituency. One MP claimed £1645 for a duck pond, another £134.00 for a lamp stand, another claimed for horse manure, £112 for a toilet seat, to clean the moat, £548 to service the lawnmower, £1200 for a rocking chair £700 for a mirror Bought garden plants and one even claimed for a box of matches in a long list of items running to numerous pages And so on and so on.Some MPS claimed on a mortgage on a home they had already sold. Numerous MPS employ family members paid for by the taxpayers Some MPs avoided paying the taxes on house sales. Some MPs claimed one home was their second home when everybody in the constituency knew it is their first home. Claims were made for a home neither in London nor in the constituency.
My Member of Parliament, Anthony Steen, spent £87,729 of taxpayers money in four years on his local £1.5 million home. He was one of the first to step down.
Michael Martin, the Speaker (a kind of facilitator in debates) in the House of Commons was forced to step down from his position due to his abject handling of the corruption and knowing full well for years about these undisclosed claims. He became the first Speaker for more than 300 years since 1695 to be forced out of the office of Speaker. Political debates on television and radio became electric as MPs sought to justify themselves or put blame on other Members of Parliament. There were a handful of saints among the sinners.
We are often told that money is the root of all evil. There is no evil in money. It is desire that is the root of such evil. Probably around 250 MPS will now stand down at the next general election, some are being investigated, several government ministers have resigned. The Prime Ministe and opposition leaders are not exempt from the scandal.
Is it any wonder there is such a gap between our elected Members of Parliament and the electorate. Meanwhile, we continue to make war on other nations to convert them, whether they like it or not, to democracy.
Desire corrupts. Absolute desire seems to corrupt absolutely. Far too many business directors, bankers, politicians live in the grip of desire. The issue is desire and the system that supports desire. Nothing else.