Enough of this whining and hand wringing nonsense about what a noble and wonderful person David Laws is/was. Even Nick Clegg has joined the “Westminster Club” and the sound of doors banging shut as MP’s of all persuasions band together in closed ranks, defending the indefensible. The cold hard fact is that, had the question of £40k expenses claims not been brought into the public domain, David Laws would still be in the cabinet, would not have announced that he would immediately pay back the costs of the rent and other housing costs, and he would not have referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. His personal life has little, if anything, to do with the expenses claim. He was exposed as having made claims which should not have been made. How this equates with being an “honourable” man defies logic.
It seems that the age of a new cleaner political environment, much promised before the election, has lasted less than 30 days and we have reverted to the same old self interest of distortion and hypocrisy, as the Con/Lib cabinet of Clegg and Cameron perpetuate the “It’s ok if you pay the money back” philosophy.
With the newsreaders on Sky News and BBC News24 reporting that the Prime Minister is leading the tributes to David Laws, we should all remember that this is not reporting a death in the family, it’s reporting the discovery of another grubby little British MP with his fingers in the till.
1 comment:
David Laws was not at fault. Our system is wrong. He was damned as soon as he decided he did not want to disclose his sexuality.
What were his options?
Rent a place on his own in Westminster at greater cost and risk being disclosed as a hypocrite by the media because he was renting a place he rarely visited? Which would no doubt lead to his outing.
Take a room rent free from his friend and cause questions to be asked by the media about what his friend was gaining by providing him with a benefit at no charge? Which would have resulted in his outing.
Pay a reasonable (as I understand Westminster rents) amount to his friend in rent for a room? Reduce the cost to the public pocket,be consistent with his public arrangements of sharing with a friend and maintain his privacy.
No one who has not undergone the trauma of having to come out to family and friends has a right to try to understand what he was and is going through.
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