How can we ever trust an MP again asks Lord Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury
THE moral authority of Parliament is at its lowest ebb in living memory. That, I’m sorry to say, is my inescapable verdict on Westminster’s great expenses scandal. Coming at a time of financial crisis and political betrayal of the Gurkhas, this threatens to be the straw that finally breaks the camel’s back.Can public trust ever be restored? The whole nation has seen minister after minister on TV, cringeingly trying to justify their allowances and expenses claims.
And let us not forget there was a time when to become an MP was seen as a noble and honourable way of serving your country.
Ask yourself now whether men or women of integrity from whatever walk of life will want to touch political office? Our politicians of the future are all likely to have climbed the greasy pole from within by working as researchers or lobbyists.
Already our MPs are seeking a scapegoat. The first reaction was to shoot the messenger, blaming so-called chequebook journalism. Yet they’ve only themselves to blame.
It is not just the clawing greed of painstaking claims for such minor items as tampons, barbecue sets and bathrobes, but also the egregious way some have transferred allowances from one second property to another-enabling them to refurbish homes at public expense then sell at a profit.
