Alastair Darling cartoon caricature at budget 2009 © Matt Buck Hack Cartoons
Continuing its run of exposures on MPS expense claims, The Daily Telegraph reports this evening that Alastair Darling MP was making claims for two London homes during the second half of 2007 when he became Chancellor of the Exchequer.
There is a lot of talk at present about a major government reshuffle after the widely anticipated Labour party disaster in this week’s upcoming local and European elections. Darling’s name has been repeatedly mentioned as a likely victim of any changes. This Telegraph story looks rather like the final straw for the man in charge of the national finances.
Certainly, you wonder how The Prime Minister’s recently soundbitten conscience will react to this news.
Speaking on the BBC Andrew Marr Show he said: What I have seen offends my Presbyterian conscience. What I have seen is something that is appalling. I did not expect to see instances where there are clear cases which maybe have to be answered to for fraud.
Quote copied from The Birmingham Post.
Cartoon caricature of Suzanne Boyle, contestant in Britain’s Got Talent 2009.
Some other abuses of power by institutions have been going on for a very long time. The attempts to cover things up often make things worse.
In the UK Deborah Orr has a good piece on the revelations about MPs mortgages and first and second home ‘flipping.’ In it she explains how the national obsession with the value of houses and homes (or, virtual wealth) has helped to bring the country and its parliament to its knees.
The parliamentary expenses and allowances system which is now busily being torn down (hooray!) has been built up over more than a decade. And looking back, Channel 4 News have a story about the missing details from former prime minister Tony Blair”s expenses claims. Top end washing machines only…
This is happening because of his efforts during nine years in office to obscure observation of what public servants do with our money and the public power we grant them when they are elected to parliament.
UPDATED. 12.20pm
Speaker Martin’s defenders claim he was prevented from bringing change to the system because of differences between the political parties – and there is truth in this claim. However, his decision to fight long and expensive court cases (using public money) against journalists using Freedom of Information requests for information about the system of MPs allowances, effectively condemn him.
The Guardian has short piece explaining some of the issues around the Speaker resigning.
Some sort of natural justice will mean elected politicians caught abusing the system having to follow him into retirement. The current party political leaders will have to find a way to publish the information which always needed to be seen by the public.
On the actual expenses claims of individual MPs during 2007/08, there is an interesting piece of journalism here cross referencing attendance at Westminster and claimed expenses. The method of its creation is explained here too.
In the past this country has removed its political leadership when it felt necessary. The Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin looks as if he will be joining the list of those who have had to go unwillingly. You would hope a few dishonourable members of both houses of parliament might follow him out because of the expenses and allowances scandal.
The Daily Telegraph (link immediately above) continues to churn out the raw data of spending and today unveils a particularly nasty angle which seems to suggest the institution of parliament through its fees office actively encouraged MPs to overclaim allowances. The fees office is one of the direct responsibilities of Speaker Martin.
It is useful to remember the data being published is raw and not the stuff which parliament was preparing to publish in July. The summer HoC content would have been pruned by the fees office and the suspicion is that many of things which have appeared over the past ten days would not have seen the light then.
There may well be mistakes in what the Telegraph has actually published – legal cases may come from it – but it is getting all of the information out and this has great value.
UPDATED 1pm: The leading article or editorial from the paper is here. Unusually and despite the way that people like to identify news organisations by understood party political affiliations (ie. Telegraph = Tory, Guardian = Labour and so on) it’s very good to see a wide ranging consensus on the need for a general election now for the benefit of the whole country.
