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The public understands the parliamentary expenses crisis
• GLENDA Jackson’s sympathy for Michael Martin (Disaffection a threat to the democratic process, May 21) may be understandable but is thoroughly misplaced.
The public fully understand the reasons for the current expenses crisis.
Nobody thinks that the Speaker was solely responsible for the deceit but that he was certainly actively complicit by his attempts to block essential legislation and bully concerned MPs.
Also, despite the fact that supposedly he’s a working-class hero, he indecently revelled in the flummery of his office. Add to that his creative way of using expenses “wholly, necessarily and exclusively” in the furtherance of his office, again spending our money to prevent public knowledge of the facts.
If Mr Martin was humiliated it was of his own making by refusing, despite many chances, to act credibly and for hanging on until he inevitably forced himself to be humbled. Despite these facts Ms Jackson feels able to say that his humiliation was “equally scandalous” to MPs’ wicked and deliberate cheating over expenses. I think that statement is scandalous.
I’ve spoken to no-one who believes that “the Speaker is to blame for all the opprobrium heaped on all MPs’ heads”. If MPs believe that they have convinced anyone else of this they are only deceiving themselves. No, Ms Jackson, we know whose fault it is. It’s all of you. The fiddlers for their now obvious deceit, and the rest of you for not speaking up and demanding change of a system you must have known was open to abuse and could be tempting some of your colleagues. Thankfully even the Tory press seems to respect “transparency” more than our democratically elected representatives.
Again, Ms Jackson misjudges the public regarding the voting for “minority parties”.
If she really thinks that this disaster has turned us all into racists and anti-Europeans then she has no understanding of the public. I notice that she doesn’t mention the Green Party, the most credible of the small parties. I guess it didn’t fit her attempt to stereotype us. She says that support of parties outside of the main ones could have “very far-reaching implications”.
As far-reaching implications as the illegal war against Iraq?
Or the dramatic ruination of our country’s exchequer and economy? Or the fact that we have a wider gap between rich and poor than even under Thatcher?
How sad that our Labour MP seems to have so little regard for the understanding and common sense of the British people.
Brian Thompson
West Hill Park, N6
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