They may be following the rules but, firstly, they devised their own rules and secondly, they are certainly not keeping within the spirit of the rules. In fact, they are bending the rules to satisfy their own greed. Obviously, a MP who lives in the provinces needs some sort of accommodation in London, but an MP who classifies a London flat as a second home, decorates and furnishes it on public funds, then switches the second home status to their family home in the provinces in order to stock that up with goodies is leeching off us, the taxpayers. Then, when they are discovered with their snouts in the trough, to launch into a sanctimonious whine about how it's somehow the fault of the system is adding insult to injury! No one forced them to make such outlandish claims.
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Originally Posted by Gayle
I think the rot set in when MPs were allowed to be selected as MP for a region without living there - if they do that then they clearly aren't interested in that region they're interested in being an MP.
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Don't agree with the above, either. Think Hazel Blears - a Salfordian representing a Salford constituency.
Also, there are a few MPs on both sides who have been fair and reasonable in the claims they make...so it's not inevitable that MPs make large-scale claims because of the system.