A work colleague can put £40 worth of petrol in the tank of their car, drive to a job 180 miles away, and back, and claim mileage from their employer that amounts to more than £300. They have done nothing wrong. It is all within the rules.
The same work colleague expresses dismay, disgust and horror that an MP can claim food expenses of £400 a month and can rack up a total expenses bill, in a year, of almost £200,000.
Who is right ? More to the point, who is without sin ? When it comes to the Westminster expenses saga indignation comes cheap and hypocrisy is curiously ignored.
Yes, some MP’s were on the make. But most were only doing what they knew they would get away with. That is the way of the world. Few fiddled their expenses but a lot knew how to maximise them. Many people with allowances from their work follow exactly the same rules. The difference appears only to be one of scale.
By all means punish the buyers of duck ponds and while you are at it you can change the rules so there is less money bandied about. After all, who earns £64,000 a year and needs a food allowance ? But the disgust of the ordinary office worker who would never dream of being out of pocket for any costs incurred as part of a day’s work. That we can do without.
The same work colleague expresses dismay, disgust and horror that an MP can claim food expenses of £400 a month and can rack up a total expenses bill, in a year, of almost £200,000.
Who is right ? More to the point, who is without sin ? When it comes to the Westminster expenses saga indignation comes cheap and hypocrisy is curiously ignored.
Yes, some MP’s were on the make. But most were only doing what they knew they would get away with. That is the way of the world. Few fiddled their expenses but a lot knew how to maximise them. Many people with allowances from their work follow exactly the same rules. The difference appears only to be one of scale.
By all means punish the buyers of duck ponds and while you are at it you can change the rules so there is less money bandied about. After all, who earns £64,000 a year and needs a food allowance ? But the disgust of the ordinary office worker who would never dream of being out of pocket for any costs incurred as part of a day’s work. That we can do without.
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