(no subject)

[ashwednesday]

You know that the MP expenses furore has become a really big deal when a newspaper like the Torygraph is holding "socialist" MPs up as a good example!

In some ways, the storm that has arisen over MPs expenses really feels like a tempest in a teacup. Similar expenses have been claimed in years gone by, and it feels as if this story is a good filler now that people aren't worried about swine flu. (Today I received a leaflet from the government, by the by, on how to protect myself from swine flu - possibly a bit late, guys?) Many of the expenses that MPs can claim seem reasonable considering the remit of their jobs. The fuss over the accidental claiming for 2 adult films by Jacqui Smith - clearly an embarrassing mistake - reflects a desire by the press to feed gossip to a public that is increasingly dissatisfied with its government. On the other hand, it does seem like a lot of people have really been taking advantage of the system; the fact that so much money can be spent and the rules have not been broken suggests a need to reform those rules (a process which has in fact already begun). This is particularly annoying when I think how I have worked for central government departments on several occasions, and I know how carefully civil servants are expected to watch their expenses - it would be nice if MPs did the same.

It seems that a lot of the queries about expenses comes from the practice of owning second homes. Most MPs require a base in London as well as in their constituency, and MPs are not paid so lavishly that running two households is necessarily easy. I do think that greater common sense could be applied to the way second properties are run, however, and I like Kelvin Hopkins' suggestion:

...I have signed an Early Day Motion calling for the nationalisation of all second homes. If the state owned flats and rented them out to MPs, there wouldn’t be any problems about second home allowances or switching homes from one place to another and you wouldn’t have these problems with capital gains tax.

This would of course involve a substantial initial outlay from the government, but in the long term could be beneficial, I think. The Prime Minister's residences are owned by the state; why not do the same with MPs' properties? Obviously, I'm not an economist, so I have no idea if this idea has any weight...

Anyway, this is all by-the-by when we consider the more important breaking news of the moment... Peter Andre to divorce glamour model Jordan. And here we were all rooting for those crazy kids to make it.

Comments

Second homes

[cesy]

It makes sense that any MP who isn't in commuting distance of London needs a second home. And I know that some areas of greater London have such bad transport links that commuting is not practical. But I am pretty sure that some MPs are abusing the chance to have two homes in London, rent out rooms, have the taxpayer cover the mortgage, and they get to keep the capital gains.

Noteworthy is that Anne Milton, who lives in Guildford, is perfectly able to commute from there into London, and so doesn't use her second home allowance. Some London MPs would do well to follow her example.

[shepline]

This would of course involve a substantial initial outlay from the government

They wouldn't become available until September 2012 but I believe a whole 'village' of these homes are currently being built in Stratford, East London that would be ideal for this. It would give quite nice cost savings on security too with them all housed in the same place, and if it was decided that the current House of Commons was too small for the needs of 21st century government then there's probably some other venues on site that could be converted into a new debating chamber. :-)

Re: Second homes

[ashwednesday]

Agreed. There are quite a few MPs who seem perfectly able to commute into London but choose not to. If you live more than an hour and a half away at the average rush hour, that seems a reasonable point at which to be able to claim a second home, but under that it seems fair to commute into work. I grew up in London, and it seems quite typical there to have an hourly commute every day (my mum's is about 40 minutes, and my dad's is an hour to an hour and a half depending on traffic). It might also encourage MPs to spend more time at their constituencies!!

[ashwednesday]

Really? That's an excellent idea, and as part of the whole Olympic renovation of Stratford will do the area some good! Though I imagine there would be quite high security costs as a site like that would be a terrorist target.

[shepline]

The Olympic village does have to be used for something after the athletes have left doesn't it.

As for being a terrorist target, yes, but at least if the worst was to happen it would just be the target that was hit without involving all the ordinary people. Harsh, yes. Undeniably undesirable, yes. But still kind of true...

[ashwednesday]

Haha, that is true, though I'm not sure how much good it would do ordinary people to have their government wiped out in one fell swoop. ;)

But as I said to

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Haha, that is true, though I'm not sure how much good it would do ordinary people to have their government wiped out in one fell swoop. ;)

But as I said to <user=snakey> over on lj, centralised housing could mean that all kinds of useful facilities could be made available out-of-hours to busy working MPs.

[ashwednesday]

Oops, don't think I've got the hang of dreamwidth-tags yet...