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As I watch this MP's expenses debacle unfold I am growing increasingly nervous as to the outcome of this feeding frenzy by the media. No one in their right mind would attempt to defend the actions of the MP's who have been exposed but this situation is not being dealt with correctly.  The decision by the Daily Telegraph to leak this information in the way it has been done has, in my opinion, already caused irreparable damage to this country and could cause us all problems for many many years to come.

Please remember that this is a very emotive subject and all people are entitled to their own view. I realise that the likely response would be to attack the MP's involved but I am interested in ways to repair the damage already done. Any ideas?

Lock them up, just like you should lock up any other dishonest crook. It's not being dealt with correctly because many are still in denial and failing to admit or acknowledge what they have done was wrong. Many (not all) are rotten to the core and have finally been found out. We have been screwed as a country for decades as I have previously stated on more than one occasion (and been criticised for saying so on more than one occasion). Repeatedly the press have been blamed by many and whilst they are not whiter than white, this issue deserves thorough and robust investigation and if required legal action.

If you live by the sword, you die by the sword - they deserve all they get and I have NOT ONE jot of sympathy for any of them.

GG

I just hope those in the media remember all this when they submit their own expenses claims  ;D
Whether you are an MP, public or private sector worker then expense claims have always been hammered in one way or another. The thing that concerns me about this latest episode of 'Government kicking' is the negative effect it's had on British politics and the peoples confidence in British politics. You ask anybody in the street who they would vote for and the answer usually is "I'm not going to bother as they are all the same".
This attitude, while understandable, could lead to some of the more extreme parties gaining more of a foothold which frightens me more than a handful of ministers fiddling expenses.
You may not like the current Government but be careful what you wish for....

Andy that post was almost word for word what I put in a post today on another web site i frequent. This is a very serious situation and it is time to take the hysterics out of it. It is striking at the very heart of democracy and the media have a lot to answer for. In my humble opinion of course.

It is a frightening situation, especially regarding the possible success of the BNP.
However, despite any wrong doings that may have been done by the Daily Telegraph in obtaining this information, i'm jolly glad they did!

If they had not, how else would this information have come to light? Those greedy MP's - some, not all of course - would have carried on claiming for mortgages they had already repaid, or for cleaning out their moats for years to come. That total buffoon of a speaker, Michael Martin, has done all he can to try and cover this up for years...and it is some of these people that met with the ombudsmen to agree a pay rise for our Police, agreed it...then rejected the agreement when the time came to announce their pay rise, knowing the Police are not allowed to strike!

It has indeed made people very angry and rightly so. As for former Labour MP Tam Dalyell, attempting to claim £18,000 for bookcases two months before he retired...outrageous. He said he needed somewhere to keep records of his time in office. Well if he's retiring, he does not need that stuff anymore. If he wants to keep it, buy the storage space himself!

Part of me asks 'where is Guy Fawkes when you need him', but seriously, these false 'now i've been caught out' apologies have taken all of the trust away. The only solution I think, is a general election as soon as possible, let us decide if we still trust the MPs we voted for and a brand new restart. Labour will never win and they know it, despite some of their members being totally innocent and some from the opposition being guilty. But a new government would do a lot of good for the economy too..a fresh start, renewed confidence in the future.

I'm only going to make one more post on this subject - but what utter rubbish! "The media have a lot to answer for" and "Government kicking" what the heck guys, whatever way you dice it, the more serious of these cases amount to acts of gross misconduct and dishonesty which borders on being criminal. These have been committed by the people we trust with our money and who we choose to steer our country and lives. This is the very stuff which makes a democracy, you wouldn't be reading such material in the Chinese media?

The media for a change are publishing facts, not speculation about what they may or may not have done, but documented and evidenced facts - again this is a by product of living in a democracy. Would you rather this dishonesty was ignored or worse still not even reported on?

It's not a case of being 'careful what you wish for', what I wish and hope for is a government that I can trust to do the right thing, to be open and honest about it and to admit when they get it wrong. Everybody makes mistakes, but the mark of a person or organisation is how those mistakes are dealt with. At the very least those who have made questionable claims should apologise and pay the money back, those that appear to have made fraudulent claims should have them investigated by the SFO.

This is an opportunity to get rid of those who have been less than honest and to reappraise the whole failed system of MP's expense claims. It needs to be scrutinised and the wrongdoers need to go. If we do it right, we could actually end up with a body of MP's we trust, as they have dealt with this crisis in the correct way and rejected those amongst them whose integrity is being questioned.

The media can do what they like with their expense claims and I expect a number of them will also be less than honest - but the media is not taking money out of my pay packet or legislating how this country is run. We have been damaged by this and it may take years to get over it, but the last thing we need now is another cover up!

GG

EDIT: Seems we were typing together gerald_mouse! My first line is of course referring to the views of the first two posters on this subject, yours I am in total agreement with.