When news first began to filter out about ‘dubious’ expense claims by MPs, ( Jacqui Smith in the first instance), I was horrified, as were many others.
But more horrifying was the fact that this was met by utter silence: no outrage from ANY other MPs; no MPs seemingly angry that they were being brought into disrepute; no honest voices being raised; no-one speaking up for the people they were supposed to represent.
It soon became obvious that we were in the hands of the most corrupt, self-serving and avaricious set of politicians that we had ever witnessed in our lifetime. And worse still, as their misdeeds were made public they showed no shame. They sought instead to justify their criminal acts of fraud against the people of this country.
From initial shock, and almost physical sickness of disgust, the full anger of the British people began to sweep the country. Petitions; blogs; polls; online comments and letters to both the local and national press multiplied daily. It may have been a ‘bloodless’ revolution, but revolution it was. Ordinary people fought back with whatever ‘weapons’ they had at their disposal.

And yet, weeks later, ‘they’ still don’t get it! Gordon Brown still presides over a cabinet of crooks. Are these the ones who try and tell US how to behave? Inherent in the British psyche is a deep desire for ‘fair play’, an innate sense of justice, which will not be quenched by miscreants being given the option to pay back ‘some’ of the money, or stand down. Nor will excuses that it was ‘within the rules’ serve as justice. Some have tried to suggest that the public reaction is greater because of the adversity being faced because of the recession. I beg to differ. Even if we were all doing well, we would still have felt utter outrage at the way OUR MONEY has been misused. We are not moved by a sense of envy; but by a sense of total betrayal by those arrogant enough to think they know better than us; those who can make decisions to fight wars; set budgets for us; and govern every aspect of our lives but have not yet learned decency and respect. And show little sign of ever learning any!
We cannot wait for an election to right these dreadful ‘wrongs’. We cannot wait for a report from the Standards Committee. We are not consoled that changes will be made in the future. We want penance and retribution from all, as every one of them conspired in this mess; even those with modest claims knew what was going on and said nothing. We want our money paid back in full, plus compensation for the trauma and distress caused to us by these ongoing revelations.
In any other walk of life there would have been a Police Investigation and court orders compensating the VICTIMS (in this case the Taxpayers of this country.)
And appropriate jail sentences for the Perpetrators of these crimes.
We do not need constitutional reform; we need honest politicians, worthy of being known as ‘honourable’!
And we need the Roll of Dishonour – lest we ever forget the names of those who betrayed us!