MP Expenses… Again
MP expenses continue to dominate the news in the UK, and I have to say it: the House of Commons is a cesspit of medieval privilege. It’s a mess. MP expenses are just one example of the privilege and ‘old boy’ advantage-taking going on. Look at how an MP gets a motion on the floor. It’s difficult to comprehend the privilege, status, committee work, and administrative arrangements that are necessary. A few years ago I was trying to help a former MP get a job, and his knowledge of these ad hoc parliamentary procedures could be used as a differentiating factor, or so this individual thought. He quickly discovered that no one outside Westminster was interested in his knowledge or archaic Parliamentary procedure. This person was so caught up in that system, he found the reality of no one else being interested, difficult to accept.
Now that the expenses have been fully disclosed (by both the Telegraph and Parliament itself), we’re learning now how bad the situation has been for years. MPs who were ‘caught’ have grudgingly paid back their expenses, but without regrets and seemingly only because they were caught. Many have said they would stand down at the next election, but once the election is set I imagine many will try to avoid standing down.
MPs say they acted within the rules, checking that their expenses were fine and being told they were. The civil servants who managed MP expenses were under enormous pressure not even to question the expenses that MPs were submitting, let alone reject them. They didn’t want to raise uncomfortable issues for fear of being sacked. I think a bit of digging would uncover numerous civil servants dismayed for decades by a House not governing itself, but forced to ensure that MPs got one privilege after another.
My fear is that civil servants who’ve known about the issue for a long time could be used as a scapegoat. The MPs putting the issue forward are saying the system needs to be clear and transparent. If any civil servants are asked to resign, under MP pressure, it will just be a reality of how Commons works.
Certainly MPs should be adequately compensated for the important work they do, with a fair salary and a fair allowance. The only variable in that allowance should be travel—MPs need to travel varying distances to work in their constituencies and in Westminster, and I think it’s fair for them to travel first class so they can have time and space to think and work. Other than that the allowance should be the same, to be used however the MP sees fit.
This isn’t currently being proposed because there’s tremendous reluctance for change in Westminster. However, there is demand for change elsewhere in UK Parliaments—the Scottish Parliament would like to break away from Westminster because they are so upset with its process of government. Legacy differences and feeling manipulated by Westminster also don’t help. On top of that, government practices in Scotland are actually much better than those in England—there’s more transparency, more efficiency and collaboration, and a much more community-minded ethos. Nada and I actually just finished an analysis of Tony Blair’s last cabinet, and we found cabinet members feeling fear and reluctance to speak in cabinet meetings, dysfunction beyond expenses or anything else.
The secrecy, old traditions and medieval practices running through the Houses of Commons and Lords reveal a level of institutional corruption not far from that which is operating in Bangladesh. Our ‘lovely’ British tradition is corrupt, and the current plans to revamp expenses—having the same system, with the same level of non-transparency, just fewer items to claim for—will allow for previous behaviors to repeat themselves. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the same scandal in ten years’ time.
Scotland has a more transparent system of government that’s working well, and it’s right on Westminster’s doorstep. However, nobody in Westminster seems to really want to embrace change.
