A Very British Revolution: The Expenses Scandal and How to Save Our Democracy

In 2002 the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Elizabeth Filkin, was removed from her job, "essentially for doing it too well". MP's did not like the thoroughness of her investigations and preferred a system which allowed them to make claims which, if submitted to the Inland Revenue, would probably have been kicked into touch. The results of that self-regulation was an expenses scandal which "ranged from petty thieving to outright fraud". What followed were displays of arrogance by MP's who under-estimated both the intelligence and disgust of the general public.

"It began with an 88p bath plug" bought by, or on behalf of, the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith. The Parliamentary Commissioner, John Lyon, refused to investigate the matter as the complaint was based on a newspaper story. Parliamentary rules allow MP's to claim expenses for their second home (funded by taxpayer's money) but not their main home. Thus when a neighbour complained that Smith was rarely at her alleged main home (a room in her sister's home) Lyon had no option but to investigate. It soon emerged that many MP's were in the habit of "flipping" their homes i.e. at different times claiming their second home was their main home and gaining specific benefits such as avoiding capital gains tax and receiving expenses judged to be inappropriate.

As Bell, a former MP and member of the Committee on Standards and Privileges, noted, "many MPs were more concerned with their privileges than their standards". The result was "state-funded extravagance." Thus the headline writers had a field day in 2009 when they discovered Douglas Hogg's manor house had been designated as his second home on which he claimed £2115 for cleaning the moat and additional amounts for piano tuning and fixing the stable lights. Hogg was surprised voters found this unacceptable. Sir Peter Viggers was lampooned for charging £1645 for a floating duck island. Bell noted that over a three year period Labour MP Mike Hall had claimed £15000 for cleaning bills. Bell himself had always paid his own and thought everyone else should. In this respect he was in tune with the general public.

MP's did not help their cause by their responses. Over a four year period, Conservative MP Sir Anthony Steen, claimed his second home was in his constituency on which he claimed £87,729 for maintenance, including tree inspections and guarding shrubs against rabbits. He attributed public distaste for his actions to "Jealousy". Alan Duncan said MP's were underpaid at £64,000 per annum and forced to live on rations. He was immediately removed from the Shadow Cabinet. However, the scandal was not confined to one party. When a Private Members Bill to exempt the House of Commons from the Freedom of Information Act was introduced (thus preventing expenses from being published) its supporters were Conservative David Maclean, Nick Harvey (Liberal Democrat) and Stuart Bell (Labour). The Bill only failed because it could not find a sponsor in the House of Lords, thanks largely to the impact of public opinion.

This did not stop MP's attempting to prevent their expense claims from being published. When the information was finally released by the House of Commons a lot of information was inked out. None of this found favour with the 250,000 people who logged on to the House of Commons website the same day. It was clear that MP's were out of touch with the mood of the country. Matters came to a head when lawyers for MP's appearing in the Courts claimed exemption from prosecution as a matter of Parliamentary privilege. By then Michael Martin was forced to resign as Speaker of the House of Commons (albeit with "a generous taxpayer-funded index-linked pension until his death") and a record number of MP's announced they would not be seeking re-election. As some expense claimers may be elected to the new Parliament the chances of a completely fresh start appear impossible

Bell calls the scandal an accident waiting to happen. Tony Blair was elected in 1997 with a promise to clean up politics, following years of sleaze which included receiving cash for asking questions in the House of Commons. Peter Mandelson was forced to resign when he was caught not revealing in his mortgage application that he already had a loan on his constituency home. His defence was "that he did not know a mortgage was a loan". Labour MP, Dr Tony Wright, chairman of the Public Administration Committee, warned as early as 2002, of the inherent dangers of allowing MPs to regulate their own expenses. In 2007 the outgoing Chairman of the Standards and Privileges Committee accused Blair of failing to keep his promise to clean up politics.

As a result of the scandal the notion of "Honourable Members" has taken a beating. Bell believes British politics will never be the same again and advocates reforms to make MP's more accountable to their constituents. He concludes "it is not their (MP's) Parliament: it is our Parliament" and "politics is too important to be left to the politicians. They are not to be trusted with it". In the final analysis we get the government we deserve. As a contemporary account of the expenses scandal Bell's book is excellent. It's easy to read, honest and interesting. Five stars.

Good Read (4/4 people found this helpful)

This is 100% better and more interesting than the book published by The Daily Telegraph. Their book focussed more on the inner workings of their newspaper and became totally boring half way through. Martin Bell's book was an easy read from cover to cover and dealt with this scandal effectively.

Every UK Taxpaying Citizen Voter should read this book BEFORE the next election! (5/5 people found this helpful)

This book should be read by every taxpaying citizen voter BEFORE they consider who to vote for in the next general election. It debunks the myth about 'honourable members' in the current UK parliament and is written by a one time insider in the 'system'.
Martin Bell (no relation to me!!) has to one of the very few individuals related to the current parliamentary setup in the UK who can be trusted to give us spin free information!

political comment (6/7 people found this helpful)

This book explodes a few myths about how political parties work.It was definately a book you cannot put down but it is not light holiday reading.

A Very British Revolution: The Expenses Scandal and How to Save Our Democracy

Martin Bell

Reader Reviews:

For Whom The Bell Tolls (0/0 people found this helpful)

Good Read (4/4 people found this helpful)

Every UK Taxpaying Citizen Voter should read this book BEFORE the next election! (5/5 people found this helpful)

political comment (6/7 people found this helpful)

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