That is the obvious conclusion to be drawn from the MPs’ expenses scandal. Yesterday witnessed what is likely to be the penultimate chapter in this unedifying saga when parliamentary authorities published details of members’ claims under the second home allowance. As it refers to a period that began before MPs realised their unexpurgated expenses would be leaked and published, the corridors of Westminster rang with the sounds of back-peddling and elaborate explanations for most of the day.
There was plenty of amusement for sharp-eyed political correspondents: Gordon Brown’s repayment of the £500 decorating bill for his summer house, a rejected claim for a hairdryer from the follically challenged Glenrothes MP Lindsay Roy, Alistair Darling’s £48 payment for having “uncomplimentary” graffiti on his front door painted out, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne’s unsuccessful bid for an air bed. Most potentially damaging was an apparent claim from Quentin Davies for repairs to a belltower, though the defence minister said it was all a misunderstanding.
By contrast, when the expenses claims of Members of the Scottish Parliament were published last month, there was little by way of eye-catching detail. Unlike their Westminster counterparts, the Holyrood accounts left little to report.
The lesson is clear. The best guarantee against the temptation to exploit the system of allowances for self-interest is the prospect that one’s constituents can scrutinise them line by line at the click of a mouse. MSPs arrived at this level of transparency only after some damaging early rows about office rent and taxis, but it has served them well.
The fact that so many basically honest, hard-working MPs have been caught up in the Westminster scandal is testament to the rot that had penetrated a system where successive governments had baulked at uprating members’ remuneration in line with equivalent professions such as doctors and headteachers. Instead, they had allowed a dense and impenetrable forest of expenses and allowances to flourish in order to top up MPs’ pay packets. It was a system in which the Westminster fees office was entirely complicit, often granting apparently egregious claims.
Such has been the string of lurid revelations, that yesterday’s data – with far fewer redactions than the accounts released last July – were met with a sense of fatigue. The final chapter in this scandal is due in January when Sir Thomas Legg will complete the process of reviewing claims under the second home system and ordering excessive ones to be repaid.
In a culture where appearances are important, many MPs fell short of the standards required of elected representatives. This damage cannot be undone and it will be hard to restore public confidence in parliament.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article