A Parliamentary disaster

Labour MP Margaret Moran is not going to stand at the next general election after allegedly claiming £22,500 from you and me for treating dry rot in her home at Southampton – a place not noticeably near Westminster or her Luton constituency. Mrs Moran is stepping down because she has done nothing wrong. Bizarrely, Conservative Julie Kirkbride is also standing down because SHE has done nothing wrong either, oh, and also because she has been overwhelmed by the support she’s been getting from her constituents.

Mrs Kirkbride is married to another Tory MP, Andrew MacKay, who has already said he'll step down. It appears that Mr MacKay and Mrs Kirkbride had put themselves in the odd but lucrative position of not having a first home, but having two second ones, which allowed them to get the taxpayer to fork out for both mortgages. Yes I know it sounds a bit complicated, but then a grand (or several) don’t come for free. Then there was the stuff about her brother living rent-free in one of the houses the taxpayer was bankrolling, and employing her sister as a secretary even though she lived 100 miles from her constituency.

Although a number of MP’s have now stepped down, contrition seems to be in short supply. In fact, judging from most of their statements, the whole expenses scandal is really our fault. If only we hadn’t got in such a tizzy about the amount they were claiming and what it was for, then they and their families would not have got upset, and MP’s could have gone on in their own sweet way. (And, of course, MP’s fought tooth and nail to stop us knowing what they were up to – see my blog of Jan 22nd).

There is still a way for MP’s to bring an end to the death by a thousand revelations current being visited on them. They could immediately publish all the expenses claimed by every MP, but the present crop sadly do not have the vision, the integrity or the courage for that kind of action, as they have showed by caving in in such a pathetic and craven manner to Labour’s construction of a police state. The Parliamentary disaster will continue.