7 Feb 2010 - Campaigner welcomes MP prosecutions over expenses claims
A local campaigner for reform of the Parliamentary expenses system has welcomes the news that three Labour MPs and a Conservative Lord will be prosecuted over their allegedly fraudulent expenses claims. Dr Mark Wright, who is the Liberal Democrat challenger for Bristol South, has been campaigning for total reform of the Parliamentary expenses system for two years - starting long before the current scandal blew up.
"It's bad enough that Parliament gave MPs a lax and absurd expenses system that allowed MPs to buy an asset they could keep and then improve it - all on expenses. The fact that a handful of MPs then decided that even that wasn't enough is unbelievable!"
"If they have indeed defrauded the tax-payer out of tens of thousands of pounds then they should go to jail the same as any ordinary person would. And the other MPs who have been told to pay money back should just pay-up and shut-up."
"However, some of the worst culprits - those who 'flipped' their second homes, have basically got away with it. And what really stinks is that those who flipped their home before 2005 - when the Freedom of Information request kicked in - have totally escaped any scrutiny. Who knows what went on before then that some MPs have got away with?"
Dr Wright says the whole system should be totally scrapped and replaced from scratch by an expenses system that is in line with that of comparable jobs in the real world, such as that used by executives and directors of businesses that require a lot of travel.
He also points out that MPs resisted reform for years. Labour and Conservative MPs voted down a proposal to seriously reform the expenses system back in August 2008. Of Bristol MPs, only Bristol West's Lib Dem MP, Stephen Williams voted to seriously reform the system. No Bristol Labour MPs voted for proper reform, with Kerry McCarthy MP actually voting against.
Analysis of the independent review by Sir Thomas Legg shows that Lib Dems MPs are by far the best behaved MPs:
Percentage of MPs per party or grouping who have had to repay expenses:
Labour: 52%
Conservative: 56%
Lib Dem: 37%
Others: 44%
Overall: 51%
Amount to be repaid per MP based on the total number of MPs per party or grouping in the House of Commons:
Labour: £1,279
Conservative: £2,331
Lib Dem: £682
Others: £941
Overall: £2,972
Dr Mark Wright's expenses reform online petition:
http://campaigns.libdems.org.uk/expenses_reform
Previous press releases by Dr Wright on expenses:
14 Mar 2008 - "End 'Farcical' Parliamentary Expenses system immediately" says Lib Dem Challenger