Court of Public Opinion
Only a few short months ago, Harriet Harman MP - Labour's deputy leader and Leader of the House of Commons - was a great believer in the 'court of public opinion'.
Harriet took to the airwaves to condemn Sir Fred Goodwin (formerly top banana at the Royal Bank of Scotland) - who received a huge 'golden goodbye' in top up pension benefits from his employer - despite his role in bringing the banking sector and the UK economy to its knees.
Harriet's outrage knew no bounds - even though Sir Fred's package was perfectly lawful and within the 'rules' - the MP for Camberwell and Peckham made it clear that he was guilty as charged in the 'court of public opinion'.
Sir Fred could run, but could not hide - so he ended up doing the sensible thing - and handed back some of his enormous pension pot.
And what's sauce for the goose should now be sauce for the gander - the MPs who were baying for Sir Fred's blood - are now behaving hypocritically when they complain that the rules on MPs' expenses have changed retrospectively.
The point is that the rules were set by MPs themselves - and were never policed effectively - the end result being that many MPs are now open to ridicule for their greed, stupidity and excess.
The latest example is a Tory MP (David Wilshire) who has paid £100,000 of tax payers money into a company which provides research services to none other than - himself. The company is wholly owned by the MP and his partner - whom he also employs as a member of his parliamentary staff.
You couldn't make this up - the truth really is stranger than fiction when it comes to MPs and their expenses!
In Westminster yesterday, Harriet Harman criticised Sir Thomas Legg for taking his independent inquiry into MPs' expenses beyond his original brief - for not sticking to the 'rules and standards' that were in place at the time.
But as MPs were only supposed to be making claims related to the better performance of their duties - it is plain that any 'rules and standards' went out the window some time ago.
Sir Thomas Legg is has performed a public service by holding MPs to account - because the only standards at work under the old expenses system were 'double standards' - so more power to his elbow, most people would say.
Remember too that if MPs had their way - none of this would have come out into the open - many of them fought tooth and nail to keep the details of their expenses secret - and the public firmly in the dark.
The truth has emerged only because of the persistence of Freedom of Information campaigners - and because crucial evidence was leaked to the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Harriet took to the airwaves to condemn Sir Fred Goodwin (formerly top banana at the Royal Bank of Scotland) - who received a huge 'golden goodbye' in top up pension benefits from his employer - despite his role in bringing the banking sector and the UK economy to its knees.
Harriet's outrage knew no bounds - even though Sir Fred's package was perfectly lawful and within the 'rules' - the MP for Camberwell and Peckham made it clear that he was guilty as charged in the 'court of public opinion'.
Sir Fred could run, but could not hide - so he ended up doing the sensible thing - and handed back some of his enormous pension pot.
And what's sauce for the goose should now be sauce for the gander - the MPs who were baying for Sir Fred's blood - are now behaving hypocritically when they complain that the rules on MPs' expenses have changed retrospectively.
The point is that the rules were set by MPs themselves - and were never policed effectively - the end result being that many MPs are now open to ridicule for their greed, stupidity and excess.
The latest example is a Tory MP (David Wilshire) who has paid £100,000 of tax payers money into a company which provides research services to none other than - himself. The company is wholly owned by the MP and his partner - whom he also employs as a member of his parliamentary staff.
You couldn't make this up - the truth really is stranger than fiction when it comes to MPs and their expenses!
In Westminster yesterday, Harriet Harman criticised Sir Thomas Legg for taking his independent inquiry into MPs' expenses beyond his original brief - for not sticking to the 'rules and standards' that were in place at the time.
But as MPs were only supposed to be making claims related to the better performance of their duties - it is plain that any 'rules and standards' went out the window some time ago.
Sir Thomas Legg is has performed a public service by holding MPs to account - because the only standards at work under the old expenses system were 'double standards' - so more power to his elbow, most people would say.
Remember too that if MPs had their way - none of this would have come out into the open - many of them fought tooth and nail to keep the details of their expenses secret - and the public firmly in the dark.
The truth has emerged only because of the persistence of Freedom of Information campaigners - and because crucial evidence was leaked to the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
