Cleaning Up At Taxpayers' Expense
Low-paid women across the country - are having to fight long and hard just to achieve equal pay with their male counterparts - but seldom with the active support of their MPs.
At the same time, some women MPs - in privileged, well paid positions - insist on making fools of themselves on the subject of MPs' expenses.
The latest is Helen Goodman - the Works and Pensions Minister earning £96,000 a year - who thinks that she ought to be able to claim on expenses - for someone else to do her cleaning.
According to the Daily Mail the other day - Helen Goodman says it's unfair to ban MPs' expenses claims on cleaning - because it's women who usually do the domestic work. Apparently, women will be put off standing for Parliament unless they can hire a cleaner on their expenses.
The Work and Pensions Minister told the newspaper: "It's really bad for women's representation in Parliament because of the assumptions underlying it. We are not allowed to claim cleaning but we are allowed to have a second job. Who does that affect in any normal family?"
Ms Goodman, Labour MP for Bishop Auckland, added: 'We seem to have been looking at the expenses first, and the consequences for who can or can't afford to be a Parliamentarian fall out of that".
Ms Goodman previously hit the headlines after claiming £591 on expenses to hire a holiday cottage in her constituency, which she said was needed for work.
Sir Christopher Kelly's report on expenses would ban MPs from claiming for their mortgages, forcing them to rent. It would also outlaw claims for cleaning, gardening and furniture and prevent MPs from employing their wives, husbands and children.
But the fact that a government minister earning £96,000 a year - thinks that someone else should pay for their cleaning - illustrates just how out of touch MPs really are when it comes to their expenses.
You can read the full article at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
At the same time, some women MPs - in privileged, well paid positions - insist on making fools of themselves on the subject of MPs' expenses.
The latest is Helen Goodman - the Works and Pensions Minister earning £96,000 a year - who thinks that she ought to be able to claim on expenses - for someone else to do her cleaning.
According to the Daily Mail the other day - Helen Goodman says it's unfair to ban MPs' expenses claims on cleaning - because it's women who usually do the domestic work. Apparently, women will be put off standing for Parliament unless they can hire a cleaner on their expenses.
The Work and Pensions Minister told the newspaper: "It's really bad for women's representation in Parliament because of the assumptions underlying it. We are not allowed to claim cleaning but we are allowed to have a second job. Who does that affect in any normal family?"
Ms Goodman, Labour MP for Bishop Auckland, added: 'We seem to have been looking at the expenses first, and the consequences for who can or can't afford to be a Parliamentarian fall out of that".
Ms Goodman previously hit the headlines after claiming £591 on expenses to hire a holiday cottage in her constituency, which she said was needed for work.
Sir Christopher Kelly's report on expenses would ban MPs from claiming for their mortgages, forcing them to rent. It would also outlaw claims for cleaning, gardening and furniture and prevent MPs from employing their wives, husbands and children.
But the fact that a government minister earning £96,000 a year - thinks that someone else should pay for their cleaning - illustrates just how out of touch MPs really are when it comes to their expenses.
You can read the full article at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
