Recently, the British public seems to have turned on its elected representatives. According to one Tory peer, Parliament has been 'dragged into the pits'. Much of this public anger has of course been fuelled by the Daily Telegraph's recent revelations about MPs' misuse of their parliamentary allowances. The British public have been provoked into writing strong letters to national and local papers, MPs have been reluctant to appear on television and being an MP has suddenly become far more dangerous than an out-and-proud homosexual in Iran.
I can't help but think, however, that this public ire has been bubbling away under the surface for some while and the Telegraph's 'Expenses Files' have just been the catalyst for an almighty explosion, of which we are going through now. The British it seems, just have absolutely no time for politics.
I just think that all of this has been blown a tad bit out of proportion. Yes, nobody thinks MPs should 'flip' their homes to make financial gain and of course, no taxpayer wants to pay for Douglas Hogg's moat to be cleaned. However, we must also accept that making a few dodgy expenses claims is not the most heinous of moral crimes. For example, Michael Gove 'flipped' his house quite legitimately, yet, the Daily Telegraph felt the need to parade his face on their front page and suggest him of some financial impropriety.
We should stop this nonsensical witch hunt immediately. We must recognise that the vast majority of MPs (including Labour ones) went into politics for the right reasons - to make this country better. Let's have none of this talk about being 'dragged into the pits' or the need for an 'immediate general election' because of it. Stephen Fry put it nicely when he said 'let's concentrate on what politicians get really wrong, like wars' - a reasonable voice in an unnecessary bout of public hysteria.
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