How did the MP's expenses system evolve?
Now that Michael Martin, the Speaker of the House of Commons, has agreed to leave his position in June many people are now wondering exactly how the MP's expenses system, which came into being before Michael Martin was appointed the Speaker, has managed to become so corrupt. The truth is that if the Labour government had not passed the Freedom of information act the likelihood is that the expenses scandal currently taking over UK politics would never have reached the surface.
Many people may not be aware that the expenses system was introduced by a Tory government back in the 1980s as a means of rewarding MPs from all sides of the house. However, over the last 20 to 25 years there has been significant developments in the field of MPs expenses leading up to the current debacle which has seen MPs allegedly claiming for invisible mortgages, second homes being flipped and food bills in excess of £400 per MP per month. There is no doubt that the system which was originally introduced back in the 1980s was not meant to incorporate a significant number of the alleged abuses happening today.
In a strange quirk of fate, MPs are now demanding significant increases in their own basic salaries to make up for these lost expenses even though many may have been claimed incorrectly from a moral standpoint.
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