I must admit feeling a sense of trepidation earlier in the week - when I read all the stories about the expenses of elected Parliamentarians from all Parties, (as Prospective MP I don't get any wages, allowances or expenses from the taxpayer and have clarified my position in a previous blog posting).
Yesterday I thought it was all over as far as the stories were concerned. I now read in today's newspapers that a former Labour Minister has claimed £16,000 for a mortgage that had allegedly already been paid.
This scandal has done so much to add to the ever-increasing contempt felt by people towards politicians of all colours. When I go out and about on the doorsteps in Harlow and the villages, some people say to me that "politicians are all the same... and if voting changed anything, they would abolish it". As someone who is standing for a third time in Harlow, I am working hard to prove otherwise.
Nevertheless, it is going to take a long time to repair this damage and rebuild trust between politicians and the public. The great tragedy of all this is that there are many honest and decent politicians out there, who do work hard in Parliament and for their Constituencies, yet they are lumped together with all the rotten apples.
That is why I was glad that David Cameron has taken a strong stance on the expenses scandal. Not only has he ordered any Conservative with questionable expenses to pay the money back, but has warned that they will be sacked as Conservative MPs if they refuse to do so. This is a necessary step. The Conservative Party is changing. No individual should be allowed to hold us back from being a proper political movement based on decent values - one which leads by example.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
Yesterday I thought it was all over as far as the stories were concerned. I now read in today's newspapers that a former Labour Minister has claimed £16,000 for a mortgage that had allegedly already been paid.
This scandal has done so much to add to the ever-increasing contempt felt by people towards politicians of all colours. When I go out and about on the doorsteps in Harlow and the villages, some people say to me that "politicians are all the same... and if voting changed anything, they would abolish it". As someone who is standing for a third time in Harlow, I am working hard to prove otherwise.
Nevertheless, it is going to take a long time to repair this damage and rebuild trust between politicians and the public. The great tragedy of all this is that there are many honest and decent politicians out there, who do work hard in Parliament and for their Constituencies, yet they are lumped together with all the rotten apples.
That is why I was glad that David Cameron has taken a strong stance on the expenses scandal. Not only has he ordered any Conservative with questionable expenses to pay the money back, but has warned that they will be sacked as Conservative MPs if they refuse to do so. This is a necessary step. The Conservative Party is changing. No individual should be allowed to hold us back from being a proper political movement based on decent values - one which leads by example.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
No comments:
Post a Comment