Will the expenses saga ever end?

The simple answer to that is ‘no’.  But then you knew that already and that’s not why your here.

The expenses scandal first broke at some point shortly after the creation of the universe, at least that’s how it feels, and if the MP’s involved didn’t get it then, then it seems that they’ve learned little since and possibly forgotten some of the lessons learned during the initial furore that was heralded by the Telegraph.

Things may have died down a little during the MP’s ubiquitously named ’summer recess’ (as if they were children in some toff school), but since the start of the new term it seems that it’s been quietly simmering under the surface just waiting for the MP’s to return.

For a moment let’s imagine we live in a world where our parliamentarians operate a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.  It’s certainly what they’d like us to believe each time an election roles around,  and I think it’s certainly what the people who elect, and ultimately pay for these politicians, want.  The fact that many (not all) have behaved in a manner, and from a position of such privilege, that is considered by most to be an absolute abuse of their office gives the lie to that.

Since their return to office, and in the full glare of the review and the media, it beggars belief that they should continue to protect the revenue they’ve made through the abuse of an already lax system.  They’ve attempted to portray themselves as victims of a grand conspiracy, when what has actually happened is that they’ve been caught with their snouts in the trough.

Victims are people who have been stabbed in the street because there has been a lack of police officers on the street, victims are people who have had their pension funds robbed by the encumbent government, or whose pension funds have been wiped out thanks to lack financial regulation by the people whose job it is to regulate and control.  Victims are people who have been failed by the welfare system, people who have lost their jobs because industry hasn’t been protected in an age of capitalist anarchy.

Victims are the people who pay their taxes in good faith, ask little of the state, and dutifully play their part only to see those who they expect to represent their trust abuse that trust.

A letter to some paper that was being relayed on the radio the other day made an excellent point, which I shall paraphrase:

If ‘I’ am overpaid by the tax credits system to the tune of £2,000, it will be demanded (under the threat of legal action) that those monies be repaid.  If I go to my MP and ask for their help, afterall this is no fault of my own, I will be told that these are the rules, that’s the way it is.

Meanwhile said MP may well be claiming £2,000 to have his garden done, house cleaned, or any number of routine maintenance issues undertaken – things that we’d all expect to do ourselves, regardless of what our job was.

There have been a raft of excuses wheeled out, I’ve even heard them picked up by ‘civillians’ in defence of our illustrious leaders.  One of my favourites is that the MP’s salaries are too low, it’s only right that they have these perks, afterall it’s a hard job they do.

We all have hard jobs to do, some jobs are harder or more unpleasant than others, in fact in relation to many of the highly unpleasant and difficult lowly paid jobs out there the position of MP should be considered a delight.  To be honest though that’s not the point.  I don’t want my politician to be there for the pay, I want those that represent me to treat it more as a calling, a vocation, I want them to be there because the reward they are looking for is the reward that comes from improving peoples lives.

If they want to maximise their earnings they ought to be looking to the private sector, sadly though I’m not sure many of them would succeed at even the lowest levels of the private sector.  Some appear almost thuggish in their behaviour, and I know for a fact how unpalatable some of them are to deal with.

Another excuse that’s been wheeled out time and again is that ‘anybody would do it’.  I wouldn’t, I’ve had ample opportunity to abuse expenses systems, or to avoid tax and NI payments and yet I’ve never flinched from being absolutely honest in such dealings.  What’s more, I’m not the only one.  Personally I resent the implication that I would make claims which seem to be absolutely amoral given the position that these people hold.

The latest ‘reasoning’ I’ve heard, it’s not even an excuse, is that worse things happen in this or that third world authoritarian dictatorship.  As if the fact that it could be worse means that we should be thankful the abuses are so seemingly low level … least those that we’re aware of, and yet there are always stories about the abuse of power.  Certainly during the term of our current Labour government, and the Tory one before that.

Body blow for Kilmarnock and Diageo’s shame

It has emerged this morning that Diageo is togo ahead with their withdrawl from Kilmarnock and Port Dundas with the loss of 900 jobs.  The Johnnie Walker brand has been associated with Kilmarnock for some 200 years and now, in order to save an international conglomerate a few pounds, this site is to be closed devastating an already fragile community.  And let’s be clear here, the only reason that this site is being closed is because the operation can be carried out cheaper elsewhere and NOT because a loss is being made.

The only saving grace here is that some of the jobs are being moved and others created in Fife, I’m sure this will be of cold-comfort to those out of work and unable to get work given the absence of alternative opportunities.  The real cost that’ll be paid here, and it won’t be paid for by the likes of Diageo, will be the social costs.

It seems to be utterly nonsense that Scottish Enterprise could conclude that Diageo’s proposals are “sensible”, maybe from a purely cold and hard financial and business perspective, yet businesses must be responsible to the communities in which they operate and casting these communities aside for what amounts to a relatively modest saving is disgusting.

Many I’m sure will praise the move as progress and the obvious course of action in terms of modernising the business long term viability or however they wish to couch the argument that sees the success of business, or maybe more specifically the increasing of business’ profits, as being of the utmost importance.  Business however, like politicians, must be accountable to the people and communities that they serve, the blind pursuit of profits at the expense of all else essentially lies at the core of the on-going financial ‘difficulties’ in world markets, but it boils down to the same thing – greed.