Musicians Diary

May 2010

As the count their money out

So the General Election is nearly upon us and all the three main political parties vow to "clean up politics" having been caught with their hands firmly in the till. I wrote this song well before the MP's expenses scandal broke and Heather Brooke finally managed to get the issue into the public domain via the Telegraph. We should perhaps not forget that Members of Parliament were supposedly so keen to clean up politics - they actively resisted the public being told the information about MP expenses at first.

Since then we have had various cosmetic or botched attempts at a clean up. Tokenistic repayments of paltry amounts. A 'jobs-for-the-boys', 'gravy train' inquiry that cost the public more than the repayments. A similarly tokenistic prosecution of just four culprits who immorally defend themselves via a tenuous link to Parliamentary Privilege and even get granted legal aid in order to bleed the public just a little bit more.

The real danger in my view is that the three main parties have attempted to reach the other side of the General Election in the hope that the great British public will take their 'eye off of the ball'. If so, it may be back to business as usual - not only on further creative ways to raid the public purse - but to further employ relatives and friends with public money in non-jobs related to their office - while they spend their time doing other lucrative jobs, rather than represent their constituents in Parliament.

To me a true 'clean up' means:

An MP does it full time - no other jobs allowed; A salary of the national average wage - our problem is your problem - our prosperity is your prosperity;
Commuting to work like a lot of people generally have to do, or claiming reasonble out of pocket expenses for staying in London and anywhere else on Parliamentary (not political party) business. With the amount of holiday MP's have; the amount they actually attend and vote at Parliament (often less than 50%); and the fact that there are now very few late night sittings - this is hardly a hardship compared to the average commuter on five days a week and only four or five weeks holiday a year;
No employing friends and relatives to do Parliamentary work - only the best person for the job.

So in the new Parliament, I'm hoping that MPs are not let off of the hook until the talk has been walked.

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