Greed and self-service

[Be_my_nude]

I've been away for some time, and a lot seems to have happened in the UK in the meantime. Of course it was well known that a lotof fiddling was going on in the Westminster Parliament, but it is the sheer bare-faced brazenness of those who have been caught out acting with a total lack of scruple that has enflamed publiv opinion so much. I can't say I entirely agree with Ila. It is possible, with careful external auditoring and monitoring, and with a tight set of regulations to start with, to reduce the level of ' fiddling ' to a minimus, provided the penalties for deliberate deception are severe enough. The British Government has achieved none of these three over the past three electoral terms, and appears to be quite prepared to reward those who have blatantly had their noses buried deep within the trough. I can well understand Mel's anger and despair over it all.

The danger is that if the transgressors are re-instated at the next election, which looms ever nearer, likely they will ensure that there will be ways that they can continue ' milking ' the cow, so-to-speak.

I believe that only Draconian measures will sort out the mess :
1. No minister or member of Parliament should be sacked before the next General Election. This will prevent them being given the proposed Golden Handshake as a reward for their time in office. If they are then put up for re-election ( ' Crony-ism ' ), then the Electorate will be happy to see they do not get re-elected.
2. The Electorate should refuse to accept the nomination of anyone whose track-record is questionable
3. All but the most basic Expenses Claims should be frozen until the next General Election.
4. Any revisions of basic pay and the system for claiming allowances and expenses should be held up until the next General Election, and should only then be debated by a cross-party panel, none of whom should be MPs, or ex-MPs.

My final remark concerns Britain's membership of the European Union. It is a known fact that the Auditors of the EU accounts have refused to approve the accounts successively for the past 10 years at least. It is small wonder that the politicians in Westminster have sought to emulate the ' Gravy-Train ' achievements of their European counterparts. Hence the support for continued membership of the EU among the Westminster MPs.

If new Members of Parliament with a true desire to serve the interest of the country(s) are elected, and conduct themselves ethically within the framework of a properly revised and scrutinised system of claims and entitlement, well, then Britain might even stagger out from Recession without achieving Bankruptcy ! !

Ain't life exciting ?