I have some sympathy with MPs. They are currently being viewed as scoundrels, cheats and liars but what is new? Some of them have always been this way and it is only through an accident of time and fate that the truth and the electorate are catching up with the current crop but you can bet your bottom dollar that this sort of expenses scandal and broader corruption has been going on for years.
The whole system is corrupt and unrepresentative. For years now Members of Parliament have been saying that the public have become disillusioned with politics and they needed to do something to re-engage the electorate. What have they done about it? Nothing, except tell us that we should be more interested and enthusiastic. They did absolutely nothing about the reasons the public were so disillusioned with parliament.
Government does whatever the hell it likes and takes no notice of what the public thinks. Gordon Brown made a big thing about listening to the public but he never does. Having completed his coup our unelected Prime Minister had his own agenda and did whatever he wanted. He may say he listens but he never hears.
MPs in general have been living with a system that is outrageous by any other standard. They are well paid with a salary that the majority of the country would consider the equivalent of a lottery win. They have pension arrangements that our better than most of us could ever dream of and as we have seen recently they get all sorts of ridiculous benefits that are very hard to justify to normal working people who are not allowed such benefits.
There is no question we need change in the sytem by which we allow ourselves to be governed. The government and parliament must wake up to the fact that they are employed by us. Not the other way round. They are there to do our bidding and not to tell us what we must do. The servant has attempted to become the master but to avoid the sort of revolution that is fermented by extreme excesses Parliament must change the way it views the country and itself if we are to have any claim whatsoever to be able to say this is democracy in action.
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