Alice in Wonderland
There’s an Alice in Wonderland feel to the unfolding scandal of MPs expenses.
A standard defence has emerged as government ministers and backbenchers scramble to explain themselves to a bewildered public.
“My claims were all within the rules”, they say, to a man and a woman – as if common sense and good judgment has gone out the window.
MP’s are fully entitled to be reimbursed for costs that they actually incur – in the course of doing their jobs.
And that’s as it should be – unless you happen to live in some sort of parallel universe (formerly known as Westminster) - where the Mad Hatter is clearly in charge of the Tea Party.
How can it possibly be OK – or within the rules - for an MP to charge the public purse for someone to clean his flat?
If an MP leads a very busy life and wants to avoid the everyday drudgery of housework – then he (or she) is perfectly entitled to engage the services of a cleaner.
Lots of people do so - without creating a fuss.
But that’s because the ‘lots of other people’ have to pay the cleaner out of their own hard earned cash – they don’t expect to put it on their expenses claims.
And nor should they - because it has absolutely nothing to do with their jobs.
So, it’s hard to summon up much sympathy for the MPs now on the rack – they have enjoyed living in a surreal world for far too long – a world where common sense can be suspended, or stood on its head, to suit the needs of the storyteller.
In the weeks ahead there are bound to be further revelations – if they have any relevance to the ongoing fight for equal pay, we will let you know.
A standard defence has emerged as government ministers and backbenchers scramble to explain themselves to a bewildered public.
“My claims were all within the rules”, they say, to a man and a woman – as if common sense and good judgment has gone out the window.
MP’s are fully entitled to be reimbursed for costs that they actually incur – in the course of doing their jobs.
And that’s as it should be – unless you happen to live in some sort of parallel universe (formerly known as Westminster) - where the Mad Hatter is clearly in charge of the Tea Party.
How can it possibly be OK – or within the rules - for an MP to charge the public purse for someone to clean his flat?
If an MP leads a very busy life and wants to avoid the everyday drudgery of housework – then he (or she) is perfectly entitled to engage the services of a cleaner.
Lots of people do so - without creating a fuss.
But that’s because the ‘lots of other people’ have to pay the cleaner out of their own hard earned cash – they don’t expect to put it on their expenses claims.
And nor should they - because it has absolutely nothing to do with their jobs.
So, it’s hard to summon up much sympathy for the MPs now on the rack – they have enjoyed living in a surreal world for far too long – a world where common sense can be suspended, or stood on its head, to suit the needs of the storyteller.
In the weeks ahead there are bound to be further revelations – if they have any relevance to the ongoing fight for equal pay, we will let you know.
