It makes you sick... or piggies in the trough

It does you know. It makes you sick to hear about the greed and arrogance that is rife in Westminster these days. The Sunday Times carried a story (page 2) yesterday about the greed of the Commons Speaker, Michael Martin where he is alleged to have said 'I want what is owed to me'. I don't think this statement is about reimbursement of personal monies spent in connection with work, it's more about being owed as a right because of the high office he occupies. This man, as Speaker, is also the Chairman of the Commons Commission, the body responsible for the administration of Parliament, part of which includes the management of MP's expenses. Bit of a problem here then. Bit of a clash of interests. I fail to see how someone who feels that they are 'owed' can oversee MP's expense claims in an appropriate manner. Just won't work. It goes further than that though. According to the Mail on Sunday, when warned by Andrew Walker, the parliamentary finance chief about MP's excessive claims, Mr Martin allegedly told him not to meddle... and that was more than 5 years ago! As the Commons Speaker, Mr Martin is also responsible for the reform of MP's expenses but according to the same reports in the above papers, he has failed to take this forward through his intransigence and probably the fact that his own expense claims are being questioned. In my view the office of Speaker should show proper regard for the public purse and should clearly demonstrate tight control over MP's expense claims. It does appear that the current post holder is the antithesis of this requirement and should therefore be removed. I see from the latest news that MP's and the government are blaming 'the system' for this mess but surely even if the expense trough is brimming with public money, MP's should exercise restraint and demonstrate that they are worthy of the posts they hold. Oink, oink.