More thieving bastards.

One in the Lords, and so extensively blogged about all over the place (Old Holborn for instance) I've got little to add. Bookmarked that page for nothing then, didn't I? And another one in the Commons, and this is one I met many years ago. Funnily enough he seemed alright at the time, so either Westminster simply corrupts or I'm a lousy judge of character and he was a sticky fingered cunt to begin with. Hmmm, also a bit of a slob by the sounds of it. Okay, I'm a slob too sometimes, but not in a place I'm renting because I'd want my deposit back. Still, when it's so easy to make the money up by playing the various Westminster expenses games why worry about it? Trash the fucking place, move on, and get the taxpayer to reimburse you. Bastard.

You name it, they're at it, and mostly it seems to be one variant or another on property expenses. And Gordon Clown seriously wanted to give them a fucking daily allowance just for showing up? Yeah, like that would have solved all the abuse you daft wanker. The only solution is to scrap the vast majority of expenses except for office supplies, travel, and sensible accommodation. If they want to stay in a five star hotel that's fine, but if there's a local Travel Lodge they get back 60 quid per night (or whatever it is for Travel Lodge rooms these days). Similarly they can fly first/business if they want to, but all they can claim for is the cost of an economy seat, and lets not forget that even that's only on presentation of the receipt and a fucking good reason for going in the first place. Otherwise they get f-u-c-k-a-l-l. As for the other popular cash cow of hiring family members as PAs, researchers, office managers or anything else they can think of, let's say they can have one of each. But the position has to be advertised, salaries to be set by Parliament, initial interviews should be done by someone other than the MP and must be blind so that interviewers don't know for which MP's staff they're interviewing, and then the MPs get to pick (and re-interview if they wish) from all the candidates who've been passed as suitable for researcher/PA/whatever. And if MP spouses and family members want to apply in the hope that they end up working for their better half/parent then fine by me. But with that sort of system I doubt that so many would apply in the first place. No home allowances for anyone no matter the location of their home or the safe seat they were parachuted into constituency. If the salary as is isn't good enough for you don't go for the fucking job in the first place.

As for the Lords? Well, before Nulabour came along and corrupted it I think it was probably okay. Not perfect obviously, and no doubt home to some party placemen, but a reasonably independent chamber. But with cash for amendments, expense fiddles and more placemen than ever I think it's time the Lords went. Perhaps something like the Australian Senate, elected by PR so as to deny (well, probably) any party an overall majority and to go with the proportion of support each has in the country, but with the above rules about expenses and staff of course.

But obviously for that to happen several million people need to be persuaded to stop voting for the same pack of troughing cunts that they've always voted for. That's the big task - cleaning up Westminster is going to be a piece of piss compared to getting the tribal voters to stop electing any old crook or cretin that has the right coloured rosette nailed to it somewhere.


H/T DK.