It's obvious but needs saying, but if we want politicians that are not just from wealthy backgrounds but from all sorts then we have to pay them, and cover the costs of them doing their jobs. This includes an allowance for somewhere to live when they are away from home, an allowance for the extra costs of running that home, and an allowance for running their offices. This will of course include costs such as renting an office, setting up websites, etc etc etc. The inferences in the Western Mail piece on AMs expenses about "office cleaning" and "office camera" with carefully placed question marks are a feeble effort to make something out of nothing (I can vouch for Eleanor Burnham's camera as she snapped me last week at our child poverty launch - I haven't made it to her photo gallery yet but the dozens of photos are proof positive that she uses the thing) and is Chris Chapman supposed to vacuum the office herself?
As always, whenever there is money to be had, and particularly when rules are sloppily drawn, there are some (indeed quite a few) opportunist / greedy people who exploit the system - some small time, like over-generous claims for food and luxury furnishings, and some big time, like flipping and phantom mortgages, as well as the people who compromise their positions with a spot of moonlighting. As in the rest of life, so in the Senedd and Parliament.
Unfortunately in the furore about politicians ex's the baby seems to have gone out with the bath water. As Peter Black points out, legitimate claims for cameras, websites, software and staff training are being treated with the same suspicion as loop-hole exploiting flipping and tax avoidance. Does this matter?
Yes, because what the snide comments, insinuations and indiscriminate mud-slinging are doing is alienating the public for politicians and politics in general. Yes the public ought to know about and be duly outraged over the tax dodgers and duck houses, moats and phantom mortgages. But the general opprobrium is misplaced, and simply results in fewer people standing for office and, crucially, fewer people voting.
And if we don't have politicians, and very few people can be bothered to vote, what is the alternative? A monarchy? The House of Lords? One Secretary of State for Wales? Government by media? A parliament (Welsh or UK) full of those with private incomes? A government elected with a tiny share of the public vote? And what of the legitimacy of that government then, when it tries to impose any major change?
Absolutely the systems need to be tightened up (the idea of claims for hundreds of pounds without receipts is laughable, let alone the duck house, wisteria et al), and definitely there needs to be much greater transparency and openness. But next time you read something about modest claims for fairly bog standard items, ask just who wins from these supposed 'exposes'? Because it is very unlikely to be the average person, whose voice has, very successfully, been marginalised.
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3 comments:
what about the office claims,I am stunned at what the Lib Dems in Montgomery pay and the cost for a few AMs is so not in line with what the costs should be.
No one baulks at legitimate costs, its just that it is so obvious when there are claims being made that really are out of order.
Nothing should be claimable with out receipts for a start.
I had no problems with Nick Bournes IPod, but I do with a jolly to Brussels in a 5* hotel for one meeting.
Its all about what should and could be provided centrally ,what is a legitimate expense,and what is taking the p***
many of us who work for a living, have to travel all over the country to work. we get living expenses which amount to lodgings and two meals a day. We do not get money to pay for dog food nappies or anything else thats what wages are for, MP and AM's have milked the system. as for bing paid a wage how long are the holidays, lets put it this way if Ambulance people had this much holidays I think lots of people would die, so the country can cope for what is it 26 weeks a years holiday it can cope without MP's.
/Robert, about MPs holidays, just look at what some have been up to
again. Carry on Grasping greedy MPs are pocketing up to £5,000 an hour
in outside earnings during their 82
days summer holiday.Tory Greg Barker made £320,000 on flat he funded with Commons expenses. £4,9993 for 12.5 hours work.Tory John Gummer Charged £9,000 on Commons expenses for gardening. £3,562 for two hours work,
£2,083 for three hours work, £1,666 for 20 minutes work for Sovereign.
And people want the Conservatives
to run the country. To be fair some
Labour MPs have been earning very good money on these holidays to, in the thousands for a few hours hours
work.
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