MPs' expenses

Even information lines have been set up for the public to report the likes of one-parent families working a couple of hours here and there to earn pin money to buy little extras they can’t afford.

When claiming any money from the state we are told to ensure all details are correct before submission. After all, it is the money we work so hard for, and each penny needs to be accounted for.

Now, it has come to light that some of the people we elect, and in whom we trust to look after our affairs, are feathering their nests while genuine taxpayers are losing their jobs and homes.

If this Government wishes to recover the trust of the electorate there is only one way forward – give details to the Crown Prosecution Service in order to prosecute the leeches.

The pathetic excuses we are expected to believe – such as “It was a mistake” – certainly don’t wash with me. Prisons are full of people who make mistakes. That is why they are sometimes called houses of correction.

Kev McStravick, Darlington.

ANOTHER week and more revelations. Television scenes of the PM’s motorcade being booed in the streets of London, Margaret Beckett being heckled on BBC Question Time and stones being thrown at an MP’s office are worrying.

Your Comment column (Echo, May 16) is right in asking where are we going with all this.

Gordon Brown must work with David Cameron and Nick Clegg on this issue. Manic appearances on YouTube and a failure to consult with the Opposition is exasperating the situation.

Commons Speaker Michael Martin is in an untenable position and must go. He has spent more than £100,000 of taxpayers’ money in four years trying to prevent the publication of MPs’ expenses and symbolises all that’s wrong with Parliament.

Prosecute MPs who have committed fraud and deception.

Deselect and replace those have robbed the taxpayer, even though it was “within the rules”.

Would an immediate General Election help matters now and do we want one? The prospect of a protest vote and a shift to the far right is terrifying.

Our country’s problems aren’t going to be solved by the racism of a South African apartheid state and the political isolation that went with it.

Ian Sadler, Darlington.

THE fact that MPs have been so critical about bonuses and pay within the banking system now makes them look foolish; they have taken a similar route by filling out already bulging pockets with interest-only mortgages paid for by the public, plasma televisions, moat cleaning, plus free food and cleaners. Oh it’s such a hard life.

I’m not sure that these people who are making so many errors with their receipts should be looking after government departments and, as most of them can’t see why people are getting so mad, it’s no wonder the country is in a mess.

It’s not that they are working people with bills, debts, etc; they are well paid, under-worked “yes” men and women who take more notice of the whip than the electorate.

Let’s get together and make a change for good in this country.

Get this Government to stand down, re-establish a government of the people, by the people, for the people – as a matter of urgency. We don’t need this form of corruption being rubbed in our faces by those who should be treated with the contempt they have shown us.

Paul Dobson, Newton Aycliffe, Co Durham.

RE your article about Durham North-West MP Hilary Armstrong repaying £5,000 for food she claimed over the past three years (Echo, May 15).

She was reported as saying that her conscience told her it was not the right thing to do to claim this. What hypocrisy. Her conscience only kicked in when this became public and her constituents could see how she lived on their money.

I wish I could write a cheque for five grand just like that, but then I am only a voter.

Finally, talking of her despair at public anger over politicians, she said: “If this goes on much longer, then we won’t have any politicians left.” That gives me hope for the future.

M Hawkins, Langley Park, Durham.

IAN Sadler (HAS, May 15) has totally missed the point of my argument (HAS, May 12).

It is immaterial how much the expenses are that have been claimed by MPs, it is immaterial how much the paper clips cost – it is the fact that these things have been taken or money has been claimed that is the fundamental problem.

We, as a society, have become accepting of “perks of the job”.

This is the culture we need to change.

Is a man who steals £10 any less guilty than a man who steals millions? We have a queer logic if it is OK to fiddle little amounts.

It is stealing by any other name.

Jennifer Moore, Bishop Auckland.

IN the furore about MPs’ so-called expenses, two things should be remembered.

Firstly, Parliament fought tooth and nail to exempt itself from the Freedom of Information Act; the release of the expenses information only came about because of a High Court battle, which we no doubt paid for.

Secondly, these revelations only cover the past four years.

The rules were implemented in 1983 I believe, so what went on between 1983 and 2005?

More of the same, I presume, but no doubt we will never know.

Eric Gendle, Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough.