Sunday 22nd June 2008
The Sunday press has been full of more revelations about MPs abusing the perks and expenses system but there is an interesting story doing the rounds about the controversial second home allowance. Apparently in exchange for giving up this allowance, which is worth around £20,000 a year, MPs have requested a £40,000 pay rise – which equates to around £25,000 after tax.
As the general public continue to suffer its seems that politics in the UK and the EU is so far detached from real life that many are asking how they can understand the everyday worries and concerns of voters. The recent list of MP expenses confirms that many of them regularly claim over £100,000 a year in expenses, employ family members on tax payers money and claim for everything from Sky subscriptions to council tax – all at the expense of the tax payer.
Quite how we have allowed the gravy train which is UK politics to become so detached from the pressures of everyday life is astonishing. While there are hopes that the recent press coverage of expenses, scandals, etc will ensure there are changes to the system, it seems that MPs are unwilling to give up any of these extravagant expenses just yet.
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Household bills
It has been revealed that the Chancellor Alistair Darling held talks with some of the UK largest banks yesterday in a bid to try and avert a banking crisis in the UK. The meeting was attended by... 
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