(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – A large proportion of people in Britain think most Members of Parliament have abused the existing system of allowances, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 50 per cent of respondents say most MPs have misused the expenses system for their own benefit.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – A large proportion of people in Britain think most Members of Parliament have abused the existing system of allowances, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 50 per cent of respondents say most MPs have misused the expenses system for their own benefit.
A further 22 per cent of Britons think that practically every MP has abused the expenses mechanism.
In June 2007, Gordon Brown officially became Labour leader and prime minister, replacing Tony Blair. Brown had worked as chancellor of the exchequer. Blair served as Britain’s prime minister since May 1997, winning majority mandates in the 1997, 2001 and 2005 elections to the House of Commons.
In May 2009, the British newspaper Daily Telegraph published a leaked memo showing that several lawmakers have spent their allowances on things such as tennis court repairs, horse manure, light bulbs, pornographic movies and even mortgage payments. The scandalous revelations greatly affected the reputation of Britain’s Parliament, mostly because such expenses billed to the taxpayers are technically allowed due to loose regulation. Members of all major political parties have been implicated in the scandal.
Michael Martin, speaker of the House of Commons, resigned—a first in over three centuries—over the expense row. Martin was accused of resisting new legislation that would have made lawmakers’ expenses more transparent.
On Feb. 4, 392 current and former lawmakers received orders to pay back roughly $1.7 million U.S. for their misuse of allowances. A day after, Keir Starmer, director of public prosecutions, announced that four current lawmakers would be criminally charged for actions related to the expenses scandal. They are Labour MPs Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Jim Devine, and Conservative House of Lords member Lord Hanningfield.
The three Labour members issued a joint statement saying that they are "clearly extremely disappointed" at the announcement, and adding, "We totally refute any charges that we have committed an offense and we will defend our position robustly."
Polling Data
How many current MPs in the House of Commons do you think have misused the expenses system for personal gain?
|
Practically all of them |
22% |
|
Most of them |
50% |
|
Some of them |
24% |
|
Only a few of them |
4% |
Source: Angus Reid Public Opinion
Methodology: Online interviews with 2,004 British adults, conducted on Feb. 9 and Feb. 10, 2010. Margin of error is 2.2 per cent.
