What’s Next ?

Politics — By FTR News on May 27, 2009 at 4:23 pm

IN the past week we have been shocked and angered by MPs’ expenses claims. While the majority of us struggle through tough economic times, those we put our trust in have been taking our money to claim for obscure and unnecessary items, such as moat clearing, or cheating the rules by flipping their second homes to make a tidy sum at our expense.

We need reform now. Some MP’s are at least holding their hands up and agreeing with the public over the outcry, but speaker, Michael Martin last week shot down individuals like Labour MP Kate Hoey, who stood up for the exposure of the expenses.
It was inevitable that Mr Martin had to resign. We welcome his resignation, which will make room for greater transparency of this ridiculous system.

Mr Martin was an signed up member of old Labour, but it seems he forgot his working class roots when he fought to protect freedom of information requests to disclose his parliamentary peers’ claims. His greatest mistake was missing the point, trying to get police to investigate the source of the leak rather than deal with the rule breakers.

If any of us were caught making illegitimate claims, but offered to pay it back, it is doubtful we would get the chance. Most of us would be thrown out and told never to darken our employers’ doors again before we had time to plead we miscalculated claims. So why is it different for the commons?

While Mr Martin’s removal will make some headway in allowing a systematic overhaul, the only way public trust can be restored is through a general election so those who have abused the system can be voted out. The public will finally get their voice, which has been ignored for too long, heard over the rows over which party claimed the worst expenses.

Gordon Brown has squirmed his way out of calling an election for far too long, but the past two weeks have shown there is no public trust and we need to start again.

David Cameron suggested again to Mr Brown to call an election at Prime Minister’s Questions last Wednesday. Mr Cameron knows his party will win, with support for Labour at an all time low.

But Mr Brown sidestepped the point, suggesting that he wanted to avoid the “chaos” of a Conservative government, playing right into Mr Cameron’s hands that he thinks the opposition may win.

Mr Brown is running in fear from the polls, knowing he has limited time left. But with the state of politics and the public’s anger, it’s only right that, as Prime Minister, he puts us first and calls an election so we can have a democracy again.