MPs' expenses

[mirrorshard]

MPs want to change the law so they don't have to disclose details of their expenses after all. The 1922 committee is for it; that's a black mark right there. Both the Guardian and the Daily Mail are against it; seriously, that puts it on the unambiguously-bad level of the flesh-eating killer bug. Even shotgun wounds to the chest don't get that treatment.

Not to mention that they're quoting "security" as a reason. Window cleaning is not a matter of national security.

LibDem spokesman David Heath said: 'The public will not easily understand why the way we use public money should be kept secret.'

Well, don't do it then.

Comments

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

Wait - they want to track all our emails, but we're not allowed to know how much they spend on lunch?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/dec/31/privacy-civil-liberties

[mirrorshard.livejournal.com]

MPs are a special case, clearly, because they're the ones who make the rules!

And if we knew what they had for lunch, we'd be able to, ooh, I can't tell you what because it's a matter of national security, but it's pretty nasty.

[caramel-betty.livejournal.com]

LibDem spokesman David Heath said: 'The public will not easily understand why the way we use public money should be kept secret.'

Well, don't do it then.

You're shooting the wrong messenger there.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jan/16/freedomofinformation-houseofcommons

The Liberal Democrat frontbencher David Heath said ministers had got themselves into "a tangled and expensive mess".
...
"Although this is not a matter for a whipped vote, [the Liberal Democrat leader] Nick Clegg and I have taken a consistent and clear line on the application of the Freedom of Information Act. It must apply to members of parliament just as it applies to anyone else in public life. We shouldn't be seeking exemptions and special treatment just because it may be inconvenient. I will certainly be recommending that colleagues vote against the proposal to exempt parliament."

[mirrorshard.livejournal.com]

Aha, that's interesting to know! I grabbed that quote from the bottom of the linked Daily Mail article - looking at the article again, it's ambiguous how they meant it to be read.

I'm glad to know they're sane.

[mirabehn.livejournal.com]

Well put...

[pfy.livejournal.com]

Expense claim form

Name: Gerald Redbottom, MP

Item             Amount (UK lira)
Bribing          50,000
Imbibing          4,322
Mailouts            653
Bailouts       37bn 200bn 300bn ??? See Alistair
Mistresses        3,333
Mattresses          450
Transgressions   12,622
Suppressions        101
Possessions       7,657
Congressions      6,969
Whitewash         1,200
Greenwash        00FF00
Hogwash           3,908
Misc.             3,455

Receipts from Ms. Cattleprod's Dungeon of Delight are stapled to the attached sheet.

HTH, etc.

[mirrorshard.livejournal.com]

Oh, excellent!

[mirabehn.livejournal.com]

Love it. :-)

[sleetersoulfire.livejournal.com]

What's that? What's all this tosh about needing to know what MPs spend on things? It's all pish and nonsense! It may be called accountability, but it's got nothing to do with accounting my boy. Now, run along like a good little consumber, er, I mean citizen. I hear there's a sale on in one of those commoner stores you commoners like so much!